I was listening to something about this on the J's the other day, they reckon we have reached "peak oil production", which means that as reserves slowly dry up & demand increases (Remember China has a couple of billion people with aspirations to own motor cars) that oil prices will continue to increase.
The good news is that it will only increase untl the point that other means of obtaining / extracting oil become economically viable & reserves such as the tar-sand deserts in Canada can be exploited....... But I reckon Roll on alternative energy...... I mean c'mon how many times do you hear stories about the brilliant inventor who has his intellectual property brought out by the major oil companies???