Peak Oil News and Message Boards

THERE is an important connection between this week’s announcement by Saudi Aramco and SABIC of an MoU for a direct oil-to-chemicals complex and the Tesla Semi electric truck, which is being trialled by DHL and other logistics companies. To fully understand this link, let’s first consider the wider context behind the Tesla truck story. This story tells us is that it is not only the electrification of passenger vehicles that is a major threat to oil demand. Why not electrification of the transportation of goods as well? Right now, conventional wisdom suggests that this won’t happen, resulting in the standard view of continued strong growth in diesel consumption. But today’s technologies never stand still. Just look at US shale oil and gas as an example that most of us can relate to. And in general terms, one very likely scenario is where electrification of