Opinions differ on future oil supply and demand

On Thursday, crude oil opened on the international exchange for Brent at 82 dollars per barrel. Crude oil opened at $78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange for delivery in 30 days. Oil is also bought from thousands of leases in the US at slightly less than the NYMEX price, depending on quality and availability.

The future availability or supply of oil is important. That’s why governments have agencies that study economic conditions in an effort to predict the amount of oil that will be produced and consumed next month, next year, or perhaps 10 years into the future.

The Energy Information Administration was created by the US Congress about 50 years ago to track energy production and consumption, and has developed a reputation for providing accurate data on historical production and consumption. However, predicting the future is somewhat more difficult, but it is necessary to do it.