Oil

This article from newsweek.com is worth reading. It brings up a few points about the rising cost of petrol and why we shouldn't worry. I'll summarise, but reading the whole article is worth it..

Oil's still not expensive: Relative to what it was a few years ago it is, but compared to 10-15 years ago it's not. Income's have risen more than oil has, so it's not taking up as much of your pay as it may seem. And while it's more expensive than coke, it's still cheaper than some bottled water or starbucks coffee. Are you using your car less since prices have risen? If no, then it's not expensive yet..

Increased prices=increased investment: As the price of oil increases, so does the potential investment opportunities for oil companies. I don't know much about the different opportunities in oil investment, but with more money, they can access areas where they may not have been able to reach if oil prices were lower.

Future demand: Ok, so demand is still going to go up with supply, but one factor which may slow the increase in demand is the decreased reliance of oil. Bio fuels are being introduced into NZ (and probably all around the world). Who knows what the future holds. Cars may have a compartment like in back to the future, where you can put any liquid into it and it'll be converted into fuel for the car. We still have 2 trillion barrels of oil in the ground and we've only used 1 trillion so far. Surely the problem will be solved before it's all used up...