A sustained period of worldwide oil scarcity will begin sooner than generally forecast and could spark off military conflicts in Africa, according to the Dutch Clingendael institute for international relations, reports Wednesday’s Volkskrant.

According to Clingendael, the oil shortage will begin to bite in 2010, five years earlier than predicted by the International Energy Agency.
The consequences are outlined in Clingendael’s report entitled Oil turbulence in the next decade.