The chart below shows the oil price that various forms of energy need to be competitive, from conventional oil extraction to wind power.

At prices to the left of the bars, investment in the industry is uneconomic and will go ahead only if supported by regulation or government incentives. All the figures shown do not include any subsidies such as the US production tax credits or costs on carbon dioxide emissions as in the European Union’s emissions trading scheme. At higher oil prices to the right of the bars, the technologies will be commercially viable without assistance. The wider the bars, the greater the range of variation or uncertainty in costs.

Technologies for electricity generation that compete with gas-fired power are assessed on the same scale, translating the gas price into the equivalent energy content of oil.

None of the figures are fixed forever. In times of strong demand, supply shortages push up costs in all energy industries, and the global slowdown will ease that cost pressure and make activities viable at lower oil prices.