High Gas Prices: Blessing in Disguise?: The Future for Investors - Yahoo! Finance

High Gas Prices: Blessing in Disguise?: The Future for Investors - Yahoo! Finance: "Hubbert's Peak

An early warning about oil scarcity was given nearly a half century ago by Marion King Hubbert, a Shell geologist who predicted in 1956 that U.S. oil production would peak in the early 1970s.

His theory was dubbed 'Hubbert's Peak' and was dismissed by many experts inside and outside the oil industry. But Hubbert was right. Oil production in the U.S. has declined nearly 50 percent since 1970, and after Katrina production slipped to a 62-year low.

The question facing us today is when will world oil production experience Hubbert's Peak? The answer depends on whom you ask. On the downward slope of Hubbert's Peak is Matthew Simmons, an investment banker, Texas energy expert, and author of 'Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy.' Simmons argues passionately that the world's oil will soon be pumped dry. He argues that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil supplier, faces declining oil output and overstates their reserves.

On the upward slope of Hubbert's Peak is Daniel Yergin, Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book 'The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power.' Yergin thinks that supplies are plentiful, alternative energy sources will be found, and we will soon "