Matt Simmons, head of his eponymous Houston energy investment bank Simmons & Co. International, is always one for controversy. His theory that the world has reached peak oil -- that is, our oil production has hit the highest it ever will and it's downhill from here -- enraged oil company executives and oil-producing nations alike and spawned the 1995 book, "Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy," which became an international bestseller.
His latest tirade, presented at Gulf Publishing Co.'s Energy Hot Topics Forum in Houston on Tuesday: that the oil industry can't plan for the future if it doesn't have adequate supply information, manpower and equipment, all of which are lacking. He said the volatile markets and poor economy aren't helping matters, especially when it comes to M&A. On the sidelines of the forum, he cited an oil executive he talked with recently who has $1 billion in sales and $800 million in cash reserves who knows he should be making an acquisition to grow but is reluctant to do so. "We have a tremendous amount [of deals] in the hopper, but people are afraid to make decisions," he said. "I've seen this cycle before, where prices drop and the industry is paralyzed. We don't do things we should, and we're penalized later."
- Claire Poole
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1995 book, "Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy,"
The book was published in 2005, not 1995. Don't trust this article. The fact-checking is pathetic.