The concept of peak oil is simple: there is only so much oil in the ground, and the production (that is, drilling a hole and getting the stuff out of the ground) of any particular oil field follows a pattern that looks like a bell curve.

What this means is that at some point, the production of any given oil field will plateau and then enter a period of steep and irreversable decline. The same effect can be seen when looking at aggregated production figures for a nation. M. King Hubbert was the first to be precise and specific about this. In 1956 he predicted that the maximum production peak (Hubbert peak) for the USA (of cheap oil that one can pump out of the ground) would come in 1970. He also predicted repeatedly that the world peak for cheap oil would come close to the end of the 20th Century.

The problem is that we're right at the apex- right now. Kuwait just announced that their super-giant field Bergun has irreversably peaked, and they just wrote off 48 Billion barrels of oil reserves. In other words, 5% of the worlds oil reserves just went *poof* and disappeared. At least, the estimated reserves just declined.

What does that mean? simple: life for Americans is about to irreversably change.

The United States has an economy that is predicated on cheap oil. It would be easy to list page after page of why the US cannot survive without cheap oil, as well as providing statistics, but that isn't why we're here. There are many fine websites that offer more information than you can probably stand: we're here to provide solutions.

For more information on Peak oil:

ASPO Website
Life After The Oil Crash
Hubberts Peak

There are solutions, but you have to be able to recognize right now that most people are going to be in denial right up to the point that they are forced by reality to recognize that their world has irreversably changed. When that happens, they're going to be angry, they'll look for someone to blame, and when they get desperate they'll do just about anything.

If you are able to come to emotionally come to grips with the implications of Peak Oil, you need to take action. The reason you need to take action is that there are only a limited number of places where Peak Oil won't cause much of a problem, and you want to beat the crowd. In fact, for some places, what you want to do is get in before the door is shut.

Our First Conclusion: The US Probably Isn't A Good Place To Stay

With all the problems on the horizon that will deal with energy, what you need to do is find a spot that has a tropical climate, a low cost of living, a peaceful population and a good supply of oil. Venezuela immediately comes to mind, but you might be thinking of some other place.

When you've located such a spot, you need to buy a home with enough room to grow a nice garden and have some fruit trees and maybe even some livestock. Start a homestead, in other words. The nice thing about Venezuela is that you can hire very low-cost labor to do the grunt work of getting it set up.

There are other places where you might want to settle, but if you seriously consider the implications of Peak Oil, moving to an oil rich tropical country seems like a no-brainer. We live here on Margarita Island, which is part of Venezuela. We know what it's like down here because we live here.

We also know that the wonderful situation here on Margarita could be completely changed by as few as a thousand people moving down here over the course of the next year. There's already a housing shortage, and while real estate is still cheap it's not going to stay both cheap and available forever.

Our Second Conclusion: Most People Aren't Going Anywhere Until They're Forced

Most people will balk at the idea of leaving their country: that's just a fact of life. They'll suffer, starve and endure incredible hardship before they'll step out into the unknown and move to a foreign country. For them, we have similar advice, but we also think that it's going to be a very good idea to grow ginseng.

Western civilization isn't going to collapse. The US as a nation isn't going to roll over and die overnight. The US economy is another story: it quite literally could be destroyed in a matter of days. If and when it happens, most Americans are going to be helpless.

The solution to this problem (for people who insist on staying on US soil) is to sell your house now and move to rural Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas or Missouri. Get way back in the hills and find a spot that is suitable for growing ginseng. Get set up for growing a large garden, and you'll want to raise chickens, hogs and maybe some calves.

Finding a place that has excellent possibilities for renewable energy (a year-round stream with enough flow for a micro-hydro unit would be perfect) is a critical component in your strategy for success. You'll want to be able to produce your own power if you can without having to use expensive solar panels. A farm with a producing gas well would be a good investment as well.

If you choose this course of action, you'd better get busy. Fortunately for you, the collapsing housing market is providing foreclosures to purchase, but you'll have to look hard to find what you want.