Has oil found a ceiling?

It is now below $85 after flirting with $87 over the past few days. It seems the US economy stalls at $87. How long before we test those highs again?

Oil still going up

Now up 2%, above $86, approaching $87.

If $90 to $100 becomes the new normal for a while, then we had better show increased efficiency.

Oil going up

The Chartology buffs can't find the top of their little triangles in the oil futures:

"LITTLE RESISTANCE"

Technical analysts, who follow the movement of prices on historical charts, have become more bullish and suggest the oil market could move higher in the next few weeks.

"Our take on crude oil prices in the short-term is that we likely will push higher from here," said senior commodities analyst Edward Meir at brokers MF Global.

"Technically, there is very little resistance showing on the charts given the upside breakout evident."

Oil is money, so there will be no upward resistance until oil is not money.

WSJ Reports: Peak Oil within 5 years

A British Industrial group of energy users reports on their analysis.

The International Energy Agency, in its World Energy Outlook report last year, estimated global oil demand, currently running at just over 85 million barrels a day, could reach 105 million barrels a day by 2030. The Taskforce, assimilating various opinions, believes 92 million barrels a day will be the most that global supplies will be able to generate, "unless some unforeseen giant, and easily accessible, finds are reported very soon."

It may be that the oil companies are keeping some giant secrets from us but that seems unlikely. So what lies ahead is a mismatch between supply and demand. According to Chris Skrebowski, of the Peak Oil Consulting firm, mid-2015 is when the crunch hits. "This is when capacity starts to be overwhelmed by depletion and lack of new capacity additions."

We will have energy efficiency when peak oil reports continue to appear every few years.

Oil imports still dropping

Our share of global oil is likely still being quantized lower. Could be good or bad news, depending upon your view. I would not invest in retail gasoline outlets at the moment.

If efficiency causes us to use less oil, then this number should be stabilizing: Better efficiency, better precision, less change in trend use of a scarce resource due to better planning.