Amos Nur of Stanford University delivered today’s DTM seminar entitled “Oil Peak and Oil Panic: Revisiting M. K. Hubbert.” Using M. K. Hubbert’s 1956 oil-peak predictions as a backdrop, Nur described today's trends of world oil consumption. Acording to Nur, worldwide per capita oil consumption is closely correlated with standard of living—increasing prosperity requires increased oil consumption—especially in rapidly growing nations like China and India. With this growing demand for oil—a finite resource—a number of conflicts have arisen around the world, including the Gulf War, the September 11 attacks, and the war in Iraq, followed by what Nur claims are emerging conflicts in Iran and Venezuela, and potentially an even larger global conflict with China. For more information, see the Oil and War section of Nur’s Web site.