Here's One Sign That 'Peak Oil' Is Dead
(Bloomberg) - Peak Oil: gone and forgotten?
Google Inc. searches for the idea that once helped propel oil prices to nearly $150 per barrel have dwindled to almost nothing, according to a Sanford C. Bernstein analysis.
The theory that oil prices would have to rise as supply inevitably declined gained hold on popular imaginations in the mid- to late 2000s, but has since languished in internet obscurity, as new discoveries and technology, including the shale revolution that helped push U.S. oil production to a 40-year high, have ensured plentiful amounts of crude in recent years.
Underscoring the trend is the fact that Google searches for "too much oil" recently outstripped searches for "Peak Oil." Prices per barrel are currently languishing around $45.
"As interest in shale-led supply peaks, then naturally interest in the old concern of 'Peak Oil' has all but disappeared after the surge in focus on this during the mid-2000s," Oswald Clint and Mark Tabrett, Bernstein analysts, wrote in a note lamenting the "short-termism" of the oil market and its tendency to seize on a particular narrative to predict future price moves.
While Google searches might not capture the entirety of oil investors — including professional traders who presumably have access to data not available to curious web browsers — they are a useful indicator of the ideas currently capturing the market's collective hearts and minds, Bernstein argues. Since early 2015, for instance, searches for "oil inventories" have dominated and surpassed searches for "oil demand" and "oil supply," as investors attempt to gauge the size of the supply glut — particularly in the U.S.
"When it comes to oil markets, short-termism remains rife," the analysts said. "This is evident from changes in Google search trends. Shortly after oil prices started to fall, searches for oil inventories picked up and have only increased since. Oil demand related searches have increased over the same time but oil supply searches have hardly changed."
To contact the author of this story: Tracy Alloway in Abu Dhabi at talloway@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lorcan Roche Kelly at lrochekelly@bloomberg.net
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Gunvor CEO Sees Russian Refining Capacity Taking Hit from Drone Strikes
- Sinopec Engineering Posts Higher Annual Petrochemicals Revenue
- Subsea7 Secures Contract to Service Woodside's Trion
- These Factors Helped Brent Oil Price Break Above $85
- Imperial Pipeline in Winnipeg Goes Offline for Three Months
- Adnoc Inks Supply Deal for Ruwais LNG Project with Germany's SEFE
- Gaz System to Acquire Gas Storage Poland
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- EIA Drops 2024 Henry Hub Gas Price Forecast
- EIA and Standard Chartered Offer Up Latest Oil Price Predictions
- Red Sea Region Sees Another Watershed Incident
- Chevron Oil Project in Kazakhstan to Cost $48.5B
- OPEC Voices Encouragement after IEA Affirms Support for Oil Security
- Biden Govt Bares Strategy for Freight Charging, Hydrogen Fueling Infra
- Rystad Looks at the Buzz Around White Hydrogen
- Ukraine Hits Third Russian Refinery In Escalating Drone Strikes
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Is Peak Oil Demand Close?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Reveal Latest Oil Price Forecasts
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Rystad Forecasts Net Production of Top Permian Producers in 2024
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension