If, on the contrary, the quantity brought to market should at any time fall short of the effectual demand, some of the component parts of its price must rise above their natural rate. If it is rent, the interest of all other landlords will naturally prompt them to prepare more land for the raising of this commodity; if it is wages or profit, the interest of all other labourers and dealers will soon prompt them to employ more labour and stock in preparing and bringing it to market. The quantity brought thither will soon be sufficient to supply the effectual demand. All the different parts of its price will soon sink to their natural rate, and the whole price to its natural price.
An Inquiry into the Nature And Causes of the Wealth of Nations
The world's biggest oil producers have significantly boosted investment in oil exploration for the first time in nearly two decades.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the cartel controlling 75 per cent of the world's oil reserves, on Monday revealed its most important members had drilled 7.5 per cent more wells last year than in 2003 in response to the oil price boom. Opec's annual statistical bulletin also showed that the number of rigs in operation within the 11-member cartel rose 18.8 per cent last year after dropping by almost 6 per cent a year earlier.
Financial Times