Peaking oil?

When will the oil spigot start drying up? asks Verne Kopytoff in the SF Chronicle.

"Mounting evidence suggests that an important turning point may be close," he writes. "According to several studies, oil production is expected to begin a permanent decline within a few years, prompting social and economic upheaval across the globe.

"Or maybe not. A rival school of thought says that oil's imminent demise is exaggerated and that crude will be plentiful into the near future."