$200 A Barrel Oil

Goldman Sachs predicted last week that the price could rise to $200 a barrel over the next year.

Gordon Brown, in trying to show he "gets" the results of the local elections, and Crewe/Nantwich, says he's "incredibly focused" on oil.

"It is a scandal," Brown says, "that 40 per cent of the oil is controlled by Opec and that their decisions can restrict the supply of oil to the rest of the world." For an educated guy, he doesn't seem to get it. Perhaps OPEC can't turn on the tap anymore.

I mean, Brown keeps talking about making the right long-term tough decisions for the country. So, why has he avoided the big one? For ten years as chancellor, he avoided carrots to make the existing housing stock more environmentally-friendly. He avoided carrots to encourage the use of electric/hybrid cars. Why did people think he was going to address this when he became PM?

With oil providing 95% of the energy used in transport, what bigger, long-term, decision is there than peak oil?

Video: Matthew Simmons on peak oil