You won't miss your oil 'till your well runs flat dry

"It's not a cataclysmic event," he said. "But oil will become scarcer and more expensive. That's undeniable."

Campbell estimates peak-year production at about 87 million barrels a day, compared to daily output last month of 74.5 million barrels, as calculated by the International Energy Agency, a watchdog agency for the world's wealthiest nations.

Simmons predicted that the US would suffer an energy scare even sooner, due to a 10 percent decrease he foresees in US production of natural gas this year.

"If it's only 10 percent, we've dodged a bullet," he said. ``And 10 percent is a disaster. It could be 20 percent.''