Energy Shock, the latest micro documentary (available for viewing below) from producer Daniel Ameduri of Future Money Trends highlights a topic that has been discussed and debated for decades – with a slightly different twist. It is often argued the the Earth has a limited amount of oil in the ground, and as modern industrialized society continues to increase consumption, we are slowly but surely using up the one precious resource that makes it all function. Proponents of the peak oil theory suggest that we have already reached the production tipping point, and that in a matter of a decade or two there will be not be enough oil left to support the needs of a growing global population. Opponents of the theory says that there is plenty of oil in the ground (and under our oceans), and that it’s just a matter of finding new and innovative ways to get it out.

Energy Shock details the challenges facing the world as more nations transition from emerging to growth economies, like China, which has increased its oil consumption by some 400% over just the last several years. Yes, there is still oil in the ground and under our oceans. It’s all over the place actually. The problem is that we are rapidly losing the ability to easily access and produce cheap oil, and we’re having to depend more and more on costly drilling methods that will significantly affect the price of oil, gas and liquid fuels over the long-term.

Considering that oil is used in just about everything we can imagine, from the obvious gas-in-your car requirements, to the less obvious production and distribution of things like plastics (cell phones, tires, and tupperware) and food (fertilizing, harvesting, transportation, etc.), a negative impact on cheap oil accessibility will significantly alter how we live our lives. Cheap oil is the only thing making it possible for things like food from farmers in China to be imported into the United States at cheaper prices than local farmers can offer. It makes the economy as we know it, with hour-long one way commutes by laborers, possible. Without cheap oil, everything changes.

The US Department of Energy admits that a chance exists that we may experience a decline in world liquid fuel production between 2011 and 2015. Crude oil is too intertwined into our lives to expect anything less than a total life style change if we have truly peaked in cheap oil production.

The average price of gas in the United State is around $3.25 a gallon. Our economy, which should be clear to most by now, is in total shambles. Even if everything else were to financially and economically stabilize at current levels right now, if the price of oil were to jump to $6 or $15 per gallon, as some estimates have suggested could be the case in the near future, the entire system as we know it would come to a crashing halt. We’re already under enough pressure as it is.

Now, consider the many factors that may contribute to the rising price of oil, including production and accessibility, price inflation and government regulation, and you’ll see why this is very likely one of the most serious threats we face. High oil prices may not be all that bad, as Mr. Ameduri points out, because it would lead to a restoration of local economies:

Future Money Trends is projecting an oil crisis this decade that will not only change our lifestyles radically, it will change our world, ending globalization and restoring local economies.

But the transition from our current paradigm to the new one – where oil costs perhaps three or four times more per barrel than it does today – is going to be cataclysmic to say the least.

Already we are seeing a massive exodus from suburbs that are far from cities and work. What may have been a beautiful home in 2005 is now vacant, vandalized and foreclosed. The drive-until-you-qualify housing boom has left many areas devastated.

What do you think will happen when gas is over $15 per gallon?

Many Americans not only live miles away from grocery stores, but the grocery stores themselves receive food that may have been transported from across the globe. Not to mention that the logistics of harvesting the food also requires liquid energy. Soon, we believe, not only gardens will be rising up in the U.S., but front yard vegetable gardens will replace grass and flowers. Remember, no one can deny peak discoveries, and soon no one will deny peak production.

European gas prices are already in the $10 per gallon range, three times more than what we pay in the U.S. Imagine for a moment what happens to an already economically strained U.S populace if similar prices happen here.