Get ready for the coming oil glut
After the oil price soared in the 1970s, it was almost universally assumed that it would continue to rise relentlessly. BP’s annual review of the market in 1970 had stated that the world had just 25 years of reserves left so rising demand and limited supply meant that prices could only go one way.
In reality, higher prices curbed consumption by encouraging a drive to energy efficiency, while new discoveries were made and extraction rates improved. Supply exceeded demand and the oil price crashed. By 1995, when the oil
