Oil Falls slightly from $48 per barrel

I fail to see why oil prices will not continue to rise even though the world economy is in recession and demand is down. The truth of the matter is that global consumption of oil still pretty close to levels prior to the recession. Eventually the now limited supply of oil (production near its peak on the bell curve)is going to drive up prices. We may already be seeing this as oil is off its $30 lows. The question is, will increased prices drive the world economy into a recesion or will some economies, such as that of China, be better-equipped to cope with high oil prices than others because labour and other input costs in China are still relatively cheap?