Engineer

A Compelling Energy Ratio

Matt, thanks for the article. Something to keep in mind though:

Could the downward trend in your first graph imply that since 2003 oil is seeing more upwards pressure on the cost of production than natural gas?

I think some of us sense that the "low hanging fruit" is gone with respect to the world's major oilfields.

That it pays (and pays well!) to scrape up two tonnes of dirt in the tar sands just to squeeze out one bbl should tell you something.

Unless the cost of producing natural gas also rises to meet the historical norm, this might be a long-term downward trend and you might not see a bounce to the extent you are expecting.