"Peak Oil Demand" vs the Data

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A quick look at January 2014 in the "Peak Oil Demand" debate, both in the Financial Times. First, the optimistic side in an embedded video with Nick Butler and John Authers. Followed by Mark Lewis arguing that the fall in US oil demand over 2008-12 was cyclical not structural in "'Peak demand' oil theory fails scrutiny test." And a more recent piece from Ajay Makan and Gregory Meyer, "America returns to gas-guzzling oil demand."

Demand for oil could be approaching a peak, as companies grow more energy efficient and use cars less.

“...the reduction in US oil demand over 2008-12 was not so much structural as due mainly to the weakness of the US economy following the global financial crisis, and the tightness of the local oil market until recently. As the economy has started to recover and rising domestic supply has made local prices more affordable, US consumers – whose ranks have swollen by 14m since 2007 – have started coming back to market.

Against this backdrop, the peak-demand narrative looks deficient at best and a distraction at worst.”
— Mark Lewis