Yes, there is probably no stopping that China juggernaut (of increasing oil consumption), at least in the near-term. Smaller-scale spikes & dips from political events aside, the consumption curve (and thus price) is heading up.
(as an aside, an interesting quote from Wikipedia, under 'Petroleum', regarding "peak oil"):
"For various reasons (perhaps most importantly the lack of transparency in accounting of global oil reserves), it is difficult to predict the oil peak in any given region. Based on available production data, proponents have previously (and incorrectly) predicted the peak for the world to be in years 1989, 1995, or 1995-2000. However these predictions date from before the recession of the early 1980s, and the consequent reduction in global consumption, the effect of which was to delay the date of any peak by several years. A new prediction by Goldman Sachs picks 2007 for oil and some time later for natural gas. Just as the 1971 U.S. peak in oil production was only clearly recognized after the fact, a peak in world production will be difficult to discern until production clearly drops off.
One signal is that 2005 saw a dramatic fall in announced new oil projects coming to production from 2008 onwards. Since it takes on average four to six years for a new project to start producing oil, in order to avoid the peak, these new projects would have to not only make up for the depletion of current fields, but increase total production annually to meet increasing demand. 2005 also saw substantial increases in oil prices due to temporary circumstances, which then failed to be controlled by increasing production. The inability to increase production in the short term, indicating a general lack of spare capacity, and the corresponding uncontrolled price fluctuations, can be interpreted as a sign that peak oil has occurred or is presently in the process of occurring."
AI
