Peak oil stories do not hold

It seems that the peak oil story concerning a shortage of supply is not holding water. Certainly, fracking and shale oil discoveries show that technology and innovation can find more supply if the price is right. We may not be going back to $20/ barrel oil but saying we have or will see shortages is not what is going on in the production side of the business. There have not been the huge new field discoveries, but oil is being found. It is an issue that field depletion is very high, most oil economists seem to believe that depletion is following current expectations.

There has also been discussion of peak demand stories. That also does not seem to be the case. Emerging market demand is still surging. The story within the US also seems to be following natural behavior. Demand is up given the higher growth rates since the financial crisis. Oil usage has become more efficient, but the story is still the same. Increase aggregate demand and at a reasonable price, oil demand will increase. 

The fact that peak oil supply or demand stories do not hold is not important. What is important is that the economics of supply and demand still hold.