Simmons moves to Ocean Energy

Peak oil guru pursues wind

Jon Boyd, Jul 09, 10.

Peak oil guru Matt Simmons will pursue sources of energy in the ocean through his Ocean Energy Institute, now that his “divorce” with Simmons and Co. International is final, reports the Houston Business Journal. “Now that the divorce is final between Matt Simmons and the boutique investment bank he took public in 1974, the outspoken energy guru is free to pursue his latest passion — offshore wind,” writes the Journal. Simmons and Company International is a boutique investment firm that specializes in energy. Departing from the firm will allow him to work full-time with his firm, Ocean Energy Institute.

Simmons has been a chief predictor of “peak oil,” the theory that oil prices will undergo unpredictable cycles and shocks as worldwide oil production peaks and begins to decline. During this period, oil still exists, but production costs continue to rise as physically accessible reserves have already been depleted, causing producers to drill in deeper water, or even mine expensive oil solids like tar sands and oil shales.

Simmons believes that the Saudi supergiant field, Ghawar, peaked in 2005, and published his assessment of Saudi oil reserves in his book, Twilight in the Desert.