Today’s energy outlook is marked by uncertainty. Resource nationalism intensifies in Asia, South America, and Africa. Unrest deepens in the Middle East. Reserve statistics are unreliable, and transparency is nonexistent. For decades, Saudi Arabia acted as the world’s major swing producer of crude oil, deliberately managing its oil production to keep supply and demand roughly in balance and prices within an acceptable range. But by many accounts, the Saudis now appear to be pumping full bore, and they can no longer open the spigots at will to meet fluctuations in market demand. Constraints on supply – both ongoing, as a function of geology, and probable, as a function of geopolitics – have been paired with an unprecedented surge in demand driven by rapidly industrializing Asian economies. The result has been a tightening of the oil market over the past several years, manifested as higher prices and greater volatility.

The figure below shows the volatile escalation of oil prices from April 2005 to April 2006. One could say energy preparedness is the real homeland security!

Cities are the largest consumers of energy and goods. They are dependent on distant places for most of the goods they consume and on energy (primarily oil) to get those goods to them. This reliance makes cities highly vulnerable to high energy costs (directly and embodied in the products they consume) and supply disruptions – both of which are prevalent now to differing extents and will only be exacerbated as demand for oil further exceeds supply.

Businesses are in the same sea of worry, different boat; they need to ensure their ability to continue operations and maintain competitive advantage. In a future where efficiency is paramount and adaptability is key, this will mean becoming very energy-intelligent very quickly. Organizations that continue down the business-as-usual road may end up somewhere they don't like very much.

Our framework for energy preparedness can provide your municipality or business with the foundation it needs to navigate the new landscape of oil supply vulnerabilities and the coming era of energy descent. We offer recommendations informed by analytics rather than ideology.

Our screening analysis will determine how several eminently plausible energy pricing scenarios might affect your organization's bottom line. Many organizations have been betting that oil prices would stabilize or drop for the past three years, and have been ghastly wrong each time. Oil prices went up 48% last year. What if oil prices continue to escalate at the blistering 34% annual rate observed from 2003 to 2006? How would that affect your operations? How would that affect your customers or your taxpayers? How will you prepare?

We are prepared to guide your organization through the process of assessment and adaptation. Contact us at info (at) energypreparedness.net to find out more.