Oil

Seems like everyone is an expert on oil these days. Most analysts have raised their price targets for oil to $40. Have they not noticed that it is $57? China is not the only country that is using more oil. The US is as well. We still have a congress bitterly divided over new exploration. Perhaps they wish the average US citizen to use a bicycle while fully cheering on the Chinese who are increasingly moving from bicycles to cars! Matt Simmons wrote an article in Barrons in March 1995 talking about China. Then China was consuming 3 million barrels per day, or .9 barrels per person. That rate was 1/10 of Taiwan's. If China, India and Indonesia upped their consumption to half the rate of Taiwan, the world would need another 40 million barrels per day. Fast forward to 2005. Many of the existing large oil fields are nearing a point of declining production. New discoveries are smaller fields. I refer you to Matt Simmons site: www.simmonsco-intl.com and another person's site, Kurt Wulff, www.mcdep.com