Peak oil - Fact or fiction?

[Timelord]

I know it is getting more expensive & that SUCKs -- But consider this, As we live on a globalising planet and it is driven by greed & capatalistic forces (yes greed again), then the money only goes round if the barter system is operational! What I am trying to say is ... The elite who control the prices (on a day to day none crisis scenario) can not allow the oil price to escalate beyond what gives them a good return. Ie, no matter how much they wish to make, there is a finite balance point beyond which they then receive diminishing returns due to the exorbitant cost being out of reach for a substantial percentage of the population and hence the economic model starts to regress. So therefore - If we can't bleedin afford it, then they don't gets the money!!!
I have come to the conclusion over the last decade that we are now in a phase of market extortion, ie, maxing the take from our pockets. ok, that has always been the capatalist mantra, but in this last few decades the business methods & supporting technologies have got a lot smarter and now it is openly known that big corporations view those last few pennies in your pocket as rightfully theirs. They think they are entitled to it and us poor herd animals are only there to provide them with it. in fact we are to be milked to the max.
In the long run you can not suck the milk cow dry indefinitely. But they dont care about that. Short term gain - just like our MP's.
>>> Sorry, been going off point on a soapbox rant. >>> Basically I can not see the oil price going up to the point where the masses start getting priced off the road and industry starts folding, because then the oil elites would then be selling less of it. Ok in the short term, but self oil industry damaging in the longer term. There will always be a balance point - Until we reach the real end of oil times. Lets hope there is something else we have developed by then & not Nuclear for all our sakes.. They are just pushing the market as far as they can get away with it and it will most probably go higher yet before we start revaluating our western petrochemical lifestyles. At that point they will just lower it slightly to keep us on their teet. :-) TL.