We live in the age of Prometheus, the mythological titan who brought fire to humanity and was punished by Zeus, kindking of the gods. Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, human beings have become ever more ingenious in devising ways of turning fossilised energy into things we desire. Yet, at the base of our economic pyramid remains the release of energy captured by plants hundreds of millions of years ago.

With oil prices up to $60 a barrel, it is natural to ask whether the days of blessedly cheap oil are over. Yet it is also important to keep recent prices in context. The International Monetary Fund notes that, in real terms, prices remain roughly half of what they were during the second oil shock, which followed the Iranian revolution in 1979.* The IMF notes, in addition, that, notwithstanding the huge – and destabilising – swings, there has been no trend in oil prices over the past three decades.