Alvin Tofflerýs Future Shock describes a society that becomes increasingly complex, disoriented, and progressively unable to deal rationally with the environment. His predictions of 35 years ago easily could apply to todayýs worldwide energy markets, given their recent machinations. In this issue of Insight, senior editors of Platts newsletters covering the seven major segments of the energy industryýoil, coal, natural gas, electric power, nuclear power, renewables, and petrochemicalsýpresent predictions for whatýs ahead in these markets. Of course, I couldn't ask my colleagues for their predictions without offering my own. At the risk of marching out of step, hereýs what I see in the near term:

• The natural gas sector will continue to experience increased volatility, with prices rising at a rate at least twice that of electricity demand. As a result, more of the newest gas-fired power plants eventually will become uneconomic to operate.
  
• Although optimists are looking to liquefied natural gas (LNG) to ease the natural gas supply crunch, not-in-my-backyard forces will slow licensing and construction of new LNG terminals during the next decade.
  
• The U.S. nuclear industry, whose outstanding operating record has earned renewed interest on Wall Street, will see construction of a new plant sometime in the next 10 years.
  
• State electricity restructuring is all but over, and Californiaýs efforts to put the deregulation genie back in the bottle will contribute to another electricity supply crisis there.
  
• Chinaýs demand for oil, which grew by over 50% during the first half of 2004, will push the limits of world production capacity within a few years.
  
• In the U.S., coal will supplant natural gas as the generation fuel of choice when carbon sequestration and clean-burn technologies such as coal gasification reach maturity.