Will the offshore oil and gas industry ever learn to better cope in a fluctuating market?

摘要

It seems like it was not that long ago when all the talk was about 'peak oil'. With a price of well over a $100 per barrel, 'experts' were saying world demand would continue to rise inexorably whilst the prospect of new large deposits was fast diminishing and that it was only a matter of time before the price reached $200. Well, as we now know, that hasn't happened (yet). With the price staying at over a $100 for several years, a number of factors have eventually combined to force down the price by well over 50%. It appears that few of our experts saw this coming - certainly not those within the offshore industry.