"Energy Abyss" Prediction

John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil's U.S. operations, says we're headed for an energy abyss.

"We hate the oil companies because government officials teach us to," he said, citing politicians who love to hold hearings criticizing Big Oil while ignoring what he called Washington's own shortsighted failure to think beyond the next election when considering energy issues.

The "structural dysfunction" regarding energy policy is likely to result in an insufficient number of new power plants being built and restrictions on drilling that will result in inadequate supplies of electricity and motor fuel "by the end of this decade," Hofmeister said at the Gas Shales Summit.

The "energy abyss" could include "blackouts and brownouts that make us look like a Third World country" and lines for gas selling at perhaps $6 to $7 a gallon, Hofmeister said. Gas is now selling at roughly $2.50 to $2.75 a gallon, compared with record U.S. prices in summer 2008 topping $4 a gallon.

"Wind and solar and biofuels aren't going to make it for us," he said.

Article by Jack Z. Smith Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas