Very interesting speech this week by John B Hess of oil exploration company Hess Corporation at the somewhat unsubtly titled “Oil and Money” conference in London. He caught the attention of the audience by declaring “The price of $140 per barrel oil was not an aberration; it was a warning.” He went on to say that demand was outstripping supply and while production had either peaked or plateau’d ouside OPEC, it was still unlikely that we would hit a target of keeping global warming below 2°C while oil prices soar. Bleak indeed.

The oil price risk is one I communicate to my clients – if if you can handle current energy prices – what happens if they soar? Oil going above $100 a barrel was unthinkable a few years ago, but it went way over in the spring of 2008 and appears to be on its way back. This is a serious risk for many businesses and organisations – are you ready for it? Resilience is a term I’m pinching from the Transition movement – is your organisation resilient to the risks ahead?