What is the future of oil as a primary source of energy? This question assumes paramount importance not only for the oil industry but also for oil-dependent economies, especially those in the Arabian Gulf region. Concerns about the diminishing prospects of oil arise from multiple challenges threatening both supply and demand. On the supply side, the depletion of finite reserves and the ultimate physical exhaustibility of this natural resource are obvious factors. On the demand side, the increasing viability and the expanding use of alternative and renewable energy sources, fuelled by environmental concerns, are adversely affecting the position of oil. In view of these trends, is the world moving inexorably towards the end of the oil era? Will technological breakthroughs in the field of alternative fuels dramatically change the energy scenario? Will new energy substitutes undermine the supremacy of "black gold"? Will the economic demise of oil precede the physical exhaustion of reserves?;These and related questions were debated by a panel of energy experts at ECSSR's Sixth Annual Energy Conference entitled The Future of Oil as a Source of Energy, held from October 7-8, 2000 in Abu D