It allows the markets the ability to experience shallow pullbacks, creating a perfecttechnical picture, while the fundamental scenario on both a micro and macro level continues to improve.
Long before we run out of the cheapest shale oils that are now fueling the current American oil boom, and long before bio-engineers convince bacteria to excrete oil, hydrocarbon engineers will perfect cheap coal-to-liquids. (For a measured technical exploration of all this, see the National Academy of Sciences report.) The latter will unleash another boom.