Submitted by Joseph A. Zupo, Aug 28, 2008 02:28

I normally enjoy John Stossel's commentaries and television appearances but the above article has one flawed assumption i.e. that there will always be enough oil (or energy) to go around. It is my understanding that near term supply peaked in 2005 and has been declining at a 1% plus annual rate since then and is likely to continue doing so until the big new finds off the coast of Brazil or in West Africa come on line in three to five years (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Worldwide demand will keep going up 1% plus a year. That of course is not an ideal situation. Perhaps a worldwide economic contraction will take some pressure off the supply/demand equation (and maybe that is what Governments want). However, looking out the 5.6 billion people in the developing world are likely to keep increasing their use of energy and that is likely to overwhelm the conversation efforts of the 900 million people in the developed world. Why didn't Governments worldwide forsee this after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 (1992?)? 95% of the worlds oil supply is controlled by state owned companies. Does anyone think that these state owned companies are any more efficient that Governmental organizations anywhere in the world? Joseph A. Zupo Atlanta, Georgia

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