Demand for oil is rising but supply has failed to keep pace with the demand. The reasons for short supply are war, conflict, labour shortage etc. There is search for alternatives while the easiest answer would be to change habits, that is, why not drive less?

This is the opportunity to strengthen public transport but choice of thrift is better for most. People are finding ways to consume less and less while practicing and preaching Hypermiling.

For the last two years farmers have switched over to corn production because that is one of the best-known sources for ethanol not so bad substitute for gasoline. But many complained that it does not match in terms of energy.

Corn prices simply soared when its potential to substitute gasoline got government support and subsidy. Biofuels did not achieve the popularity with the public and the quest for oil source did not stop there. Search for oil is stretching to places where human habitation is impossible.

The fear that oil reserves are soon disappearing from the face of the earth is half-truth. The existing ones may become exhausted soon but there are vast resources still untapped and those resources being located in such far off places that tapping those places would not be so profitable.

Now the price of oil is $120 dollar and some speculators are still hoping that it may fall. Analysts say that it will rise as high as $200 by 2010. Rise of oil prices saw the rise of food prices. The exporting countries have banned export and are conserving for internal consumption. As if to dispel fear from the minds of common people recently India announced that India has sufficient staples in its stock.

At this moment I am reminded of Aparna Sen’s film Yugant where the sea caught fire because of oil. Oil floating over water caught fire and the indigenous coastal population are witness to it. At this moment the whole world perhaps the middle and the upper classes are witnessing a shortage of oil.