“So, the peak oil theorists got lucky in that the industry experienced a large number of supply disruptions that raised prices, which seemed to confirm their arguments—just as the Iranian Oil Crisis of 1979 incorrectly convinced many that ever-higher crude prices were unavoidable and resource optimists naive.  But by understanding that supply disruptions in Iraq, Libya, Venezuela and so on were responsible for higher prices, it is possible to recognize that political trends in oil exporting countries will determine prices, not resource scarcity.  Recognizing the former means coping with cyclical prices, believing in the latter means getting blindsided by every major price decline.”

Michael Lynch, energy economist, from Forbes magazine article—“Whatever Happened to Peak Oil?”