Cost

Twenty years ago the world reached what was called peak oil. This meant that the world production of oil and natural gas was reaching a peak and would then decline. This caused the price of oil to rise and led to fracking. Fracking had been known about for many years but was considered to expensive but when the price went up fracking became economical. This save the day temporarily and all of the increase in oil production since then can be attributed to fracking. Now things are changing again and the world is reaching peak oil. Will there be another surprise source of oil discovered or will the prices just start rising. The big question is will the world rely on wind and solar to come to the rescue or will they come to realize that the solution is nuclear. In either case the time line to replace fossil fuels is short which means higher prices for energy which means higher prices for all products. A ten percent rise in energy prices means a two percent rise in food cost. If oil goes from $70 per barrel to $70.70 then a loaf of bread that cost $2 will cost $2.14. It is possible that oil could hit $100 in just a few years.