Monday's rally in the energy stocks may be a short-term phenomenon. After all, who could have predicted a year ago that the price of oil would run to above $147 a barrel, only to turn on a dime and ultimately plummet into the low $30s?

But in the middle of the Monday rally -- which had the price of crude creeping up by more than a $1.60 a barrel to a level approaching $54 -- oilfield services No. 2 Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was up nearly 7%, while Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), the 800-pound gorilla of the service companies, was up about 12%.

At the same time, with Chevron (NYSE:CVX), the second-biggest member of U.S.-based Big Oil, having climbed by more than 6%, and Norway's StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO) up over 8%, a Foolish question has emerged: Will the slow but steady rally in the energy sector fizzle, or will it run to higher levels?

My feeling is that the climb in oil prices -- and consequently energy stocks -- will persist for longer than most folks expect. I know, I know, demand is slipping across the globe. But I think the drop during the second half of last year was overdone.

And it's time we listened to the predictions of energy seers like ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and the Energy Information Administration arm of the Energy Department, both of which believe that in a couple of decades, we'll witness energy demand escalating by as much as 50% above today's level.

So with all the new action going on in energy, we have a request for you: Take a moment to weigh in on the future of energy prices and energy stocks. Please feel free to let loose with your opinion in the comments section below.