Portents of the energy crunch are increasing…
Following the recent report from the International Energy Agency that an energy crunch is approaching, reports are circulating today that respected Investec fund manager Tim Guinness is predicting that oil will hit $150 a barrel by 2010. This is obviously a big call.
This is more dire a prediction than the one given by Jim Rogers in 2005. Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund with billionaire financier George Soros. He predicted that oil would hit $150 a barrel by 2015.
Guinness is manager of the Investec Global Energy fund – and he has indicated that he is fully supportive of the view of the International Energy Agency. Well, anyone with any sense would be, wouldn’t they?
Even the oil industry is now raising the red flag. A report from former chairman of Exxon Mobil Samuel Bodman unveiled on Wednesday in Washington also made grim reading.
The document is immense, but the conclusions are predictable. It stated that due to population growth and an increase in wealth worldwide, total energy consumption was expected to jump by more than 50% over the next 25 years.
It did not say that high energy prices are here to stay, but I think we can conclude that is the case. However, predictably, it said that it did not expect that peak oil was an issue.
By Garry White for his ‘Garry Writes’ newsletter. To find out more about his monthly newsletter, Outstanding Investments, which expands on his views and makes specific recommendations in the resource, infrastructure and biotech sectors, click here: Outstanding Investments
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