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Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

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However, inflation is just one part <strong>of</strong> the picture. As prices increase, demand decreases,<br />

triggering lower prices. Lower prices tend to encourage greater demand. Wild oscillations<br />

in demand could result in wild oscillations in gas prices.<br />

The fallout <strong>of</strong> the summer <strong>of</strong> 2008 is testament to this volatility: On July 11, 2008, the price<br />

<strong>of</strong> oil hit $147.29/barrel. Faced with record prices at the gasoline pump, motorists rapidly<br />

began to alter their behavior, cutting back on discretionary driving or resorting to public<br />

transportation. New gas guzzlers sat forlornly on auto dealers’ lots.<br />

Further figuring into demand destruction was the mortgage crisis that hit just a few weeks<br />

after the record oil price peak, triggering a global economic meltdown. <strong>Oil</strong> took a nosedive<br />

down to about $33/barrel in December 2008. Indeed, oil demand dropped by nearly 1.5<br />

million barrels a day since July 2008. 26 Six months after the December low, oil was once<br />

again inching its way above $70/barrel. In the teeth <strong>of</strong> the worst postwar recession on<br />

record, this doubling <strong>of</strong> oil prices in only six months is truly remarkable. The increasing<br />

likelihood <strong>of</strong> ever‐more volatile oil prices is widely recognized. The United <strong>State</strong>s<br />

Government Accounting Office (GAO) reports that energy markets will become increasingly<br />

volatile, making supply disruptions more likely. 27<br />

26 Jad Mouawad, “One Year After <strong>Oil</strong>’s Price <strong>Peak</strong>: Volatility,” New York Times, July 10, 2009, Green Inc.<br />

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/one‐year‐after‐oils‐price‐peak‐<br />

volatility/?scp=1&sq=one%20year%20after%20oil's%20price%20peak&st=cse<br />

27 “Crude <strong>Oil</strong>: Uncertainty about Future <strong>Oil</strong> Supply Makes It Important to Develop a Strategy for Addressing<br />

the <strong>Peak</strong> and Decline <strong>of</strong> <strong>Oil</strong> Production,” GAO‐07‐283, February 2007,<br />

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07283.pdf<br />

<strong>Report</strong> <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Bloomington</strong> <strong>Peak</strong> <strong>Oil</strong> <strong>Task</strong> <strong>Force</strong><br />

21

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