Just when you thought you paid enough at the pump Texan oil analyst Matt Simmons warns that oil could reach $100 a barrel by this winter. The Guardian has a new article discussing the potential oil crisis.
After crude surged through $60 a barrel last week, nervous investors were pinning their hopes on a build-up in US oil-stocks to depress prices in the coming months.
But Simmons believes surging demand will keep prices bubbling well above $50. "We could be at $100 by this winter. We have the biggest risk we have ever had of demand exceeding supply. We are now just about to face up to the biggest crisis we have ever had," he said.
Surging demand and a diminishing oil supply in Saudi Arabia are two of the reason's for Simmons' grim outlook. While the U.S. has not seen such high oil prices since the 1970s they are a daily occurence for people living in Brazil. However, Brazil has found a unique way to deal with the problem using ethanol according to this Seattle Timesarticle.
Like tens of thousands of her fellow citizens, she is running her zippy red Fiat on pure ethanol extracted from Brazilian sugar cane. On a recent morning in Brazil's largest city, the clear liquid was selling for less than half the price of gasoline, a sweet deal for the 26-year-old lawyer.
"You save money and you don't pollute as much," said Rossini, who paid about $18 to fill her nearly empty tank. "And it's a good thing that the product is made here."
