“Our ignorance is not as vast as our failure to use what we know”.

-- M. King Hubbert

“This is the first age that’s ever paid much attention to the future, which is little ironic since we may not have one”. -- Arthur C. Clarke

On the eve of World War I, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill made a historic decision to shift the power source of the British Navy’s ships from coal to oil. Since Churchill’s decision, energy security has repeatedly emerged as an issue of great importance and it is so once again today. Since Churchill’s day, the key energy security has been diversification. This remains true even today but a wider approach is now required that takes into account the rapid evolution of the global energy trade, supply chain vulnerabilities, terrorism and the integration of major new economies into the world market.

“You should respect each other and refrain from disputes; you should not, like water and oil, repel each other, but should, like milk and water, mingle together.” (Gautam Buddha)

The history of the international petroleum industry is marked by attempts to restrict supply and maintain high prices. They include the Achnacarry (“As Is”) Agreement; the abortive Anglo-US treaties towards the end of the World War II; and the system of allowable practiced in the name of conservation, by various states in the United States, most notably in Texas, where the Texas Railroad Commission [TRC] was the lynchpin, setting monthly maximum allowable production levels.