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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Excerpts:
 
None of this surprises industry watchers such as Matt Simmons, the chairman 
of Houston energy industry investment bank Simmons & Co. and chief spokesman 
for the Peak Oil movement. I recently wrote a profile of Simmons for Fortune 
("The prophet of $500 oil") and I can report that he has been warning about 
the potential of gasoline shortages in the U.S. for months. 
"Our system is so fragile," he told me recently. "All you need is a tiny 
change to go from 'Oh, we're in fine shape' to an unmitigated disaster." 
............................................
 
....."As he told me the other day: "If we end up having gasoline shortages, 
the odds are about 90% that Americans will do what we always do: We'll top up 
our tanks. And in topping up our tanks, within three or four days we'll drain 
the pool dry and then within seven days we'll run out of food." 
 
That sounds awfully dire. And it probably won't happen. But, then again, a 
couple of months ago hardly anybody would have predicted that AIG would 
collapse, Congress would be mulling a Wall Street bailout, and '70s-era gas 
lines would be back. " 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/26/news/economy/gasshortage_okeefe.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes