Matthew Simmons

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Matthew Simmons ( Matthew R. "Matt" Simmons; ) ( April 7, 1943 , † August 8, 2010 ) was an American investment banker and chairman of the energy sector investment company Simmons & Company International.

Simmons was a proponent of the peak oil theory, according to which the prices for crude oil will soon rise drastically due to the growing demand and simultaneously falling production rates in the large oil fields of the world. For his book Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy , much discussed in the USA , Simmons spent several weeks researching in Saudi Arabia in order to obtain - for the first time ever - objective data on the actual oil production in to get the kingdom. Simmons was convinced that the Arab Kingdom has now reached the “peak point” and that its production rates will now steadily decline: “When Saudi Arabia has peaked, the world has peaked” - If Saudi Arabia has reached its production maximum, then so has it the world (Simmons).

Simmons (2005) predicted an oil price of at least $ 200 a barrel for 2010 and then made a public bet for (then) $ 10,000 with John M. Tierney , a business journalist for the New York Times . Tierney won the bet, which continued after Simmons death and commented pointedly “for now I'd say that Julian Simon's advice remains as good as ever. You can always make news with doomsday predictions, but you can usually make money betting against them "(, German:" Julian L. Simon's advice remains correct: You can make headlines with doomsday prophecies , money is made by opposing them holds ")

He worked for some time as an energy advisor to US President George HW Bush and was also a member of influential organizations such as the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Foreign Relations .

In 2007 Matt Simmons founded the Ocean Energy Institute (OEI), a think tank dedicated to promoting the development of renewable energies in the marine energy sector. In a project, energy is to be generated with the help of offshore wind turbines . Among other things, this could be used for the electrolysis of seawater or for the production of ammonia using the Haber-Bosch process . The project aims to help free the United States from its oil dependence.

June 2010, Simmons announced that he would devote himself entirely to the Ocean Energy Institute and announced his withdrawal from Simmons & Company International.

Simmons became known for harsh criticism and cover-up allegations against British Petroleum (BP) in connection with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010.

On August 8, 2010, he was found dead in the hot tub at his North Haven summer home , the cause of death reported being drowning after a heart attack.

Works

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Tierney: Economic Optimism? Yes, I'll Take That Bet . In: The New York Times . December 27, 2010
  2. ↑ Joint UMaine / Ocean Energy Institute to Honor Legacy Simmons Further Ocean Energy Objectives, The University of Maine 24 January, 2011.
  3. ↑ NASA presentation ( MS PowerPoint ; 268 kB)
personal data
SURNAME Simmons, Matthew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simmons, Matthew R .; Simmons, Matt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American banker and oil expert
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1943
DATE OF DEATH August 8, 2010