Irrespective of Copenhagen, oil is becoming a scarce commodity with only 90 years of cheap reserves left and peak production expected in the next five years. With any kind of recovery, oil will go straight through $200 a barrel. Since oil revenues are more than all other commodities combined, this could have a major inflationary impact. Water is also moving into the same category. Australia is having to surround itself with desalination plants to cope with rising needs. Desalinated water costs six times more than water from natural sources. South Africa could run into a problem similar to Eskom with water if it doesn’t carefully plan its future sources now.