Created on Tuesday, 24 February 2009 23:01

The Age of Oil — 100-plus years of astonishing economic growth made possible by cheap, abundant oil — could be ending without our really being aware of it. Oil is a finite commodity. At some point even the vast reservoirs of Saudi Arabia will run dry.

But before that happens there will come a day when oil production 'peaks,' when demand overtakes supply (and never looks back) resulting in large and possibly catastrophic price increases that could make today's $60-a-barrel oil look like chump change…