Report warns of global oil shortages

23 March 2010

Written by Neil Brunskill

The world may soon witness rapid oil price spikes and persistent shortages of crude products, a team of scientists led by former government adviser Sir David King has warned.

The team of Oxford scientists has drawn up a report stating that current estimates for global oil reserves may be grossly overstated, largely because members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries lied about reserves in the 1980s in a bid to attract exploration and production contract tenders.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer of crude oil, has refused entry to independent assessors looking to verify the size of its reserves.

Meanwhile, the report was also critical of the inclusion of non-conventional crude reserves, such as Canada's tar sands, in the report.

Rapid rises in oil prices could lead to a return to the fuel shortages and protests witnessed in 2008, when crude soared to $147 a barrel and heating oil breached the $4 a gallon mark.

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