From here out, it gets uglier

International Big Oil is likely going to make a shift as a result of the Gulf disaster. Exploration & extraction in the increasingly NIMBY-minded developed nations will likely decline, putting more pressure on the un(der)-regulated developing nations, such as Nigeria, Angola, Guinea.

photo by Ed Kashi; taken from Daily Kos posting.


As the "easy oil" reserves are depleted, the Gulf disaster is an indication of how much messier things will get in the near future-- but probably not for us. Wealthy developed nations will perhaps move forward with alternative energy development and reduce risky extraction operations, while oil-rich but financially poor nations suffer further environmental, financial, and human degradation to meet still-increasing global fossil demand.

Unless worldwide alternative energy demand increases dramatically in the near term, eclipsing fossil demand, this scenario will likely play out for decades, since fossils are the best-established energy source and demand is unlikely to disappear for the foreseeable future.

Woe to the developing world, already mired in the toxic muck of our insatiable lusts.