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Dr Campbell, is a former chief geologist and vice-president at a string of oil majors including BP, Shell, Fina, Exxon and ChevronTexaco. He explains that the peak of regular oil - the cheap and easy to extract stuff - has already come and gone in 2005
Originally posted by dbates
This is another one of my "We're not focusing on the right issue" threads.
The peak oil forum seems to have slowed to a crawl. Occasionally I'll see whispers in other threads.
Faint glimpses that someone is getting it but for the most part, the members here hit the snooze button every time the alarm goes off.
Just look at the number of replies to my most recent thread in this forum. They don't want to wake up and face the reality that the world is running out of oil.
WASHINGTON, DC, June 21 -- BP PLC tried recently to quell renewed concerns by some industry observers that world oil reserves are running out sooner than expected.
"2003 was a turbulent year in the world's energy markets, with supply disruptions, strong growth in both demand and production of oil and coal, and the highest prices in the oil and gas markets for 20 years," said BP Chief Economist Peter Davies.
However, he said, "The high prices were not driven by fundamental resource shortages: In 2003, the world's reserves of oil and natural gas continued their long term trend of growing faster than production."
BP: World oil and gas reserves still growing at healthy pace
At 2003 consumption levels [2], the remaining reserves represent 44.6 years of oil and 66.2 years of natural gas. Does this mean that the world will be out of fossil fuels in 50 years or so? That theory has been around since the 1970s. In fact, the figures for years of remaining reserves have remained relative constant over the past few decades as the industry has replaced consumption with newly discovered oil and gas deposits and has developed technologies to increase the amount of oil and gas that can be recovered from existing reservoirs.
No one can know for certain how much oil and gas remains to be discovered. But geologists sometimes make educated guesses. For example, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts periodic assessments of U.S. mineral resources. In its most recent assessment (1995), the USGS estimated that the onshore U.S., including Alaska, has undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 112.3 billion barrels of oil and 1,074 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In a separate assessment of offshore resources completed in 2000, the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimated that 75 billion barrels of oil and 362 trillion cubic feet of natural gas underlie the areas off the coasts of the U.S. The USGS and MMS resource assessments make clear that, despite being a very mature producing area, substantial resources still exist in the U.S.
World oil resources to 2025 may be more than two times current reserves, based on an estimate from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) using USGS data. Reserve growth of 730 billion barrels accounts for new discoveries and the expansion of what can be recovered from known reservoirs due to advances in technology and improvements in economics. But EIA estimates that in 2025, countries around the globe will still have more than 900 billion barrels of oil remaining to be discovered. EIA estimates total world oil resources at more than 2.9 trillion barrels of oil.
www.spe.org...
But today crude is selling for $55 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price rise has just started to hit consumers in the form of higher gas prices. On Friday, Greenspan added his voice to the chorus, noting oil prices adjusted for inflation were still not as high as they were in the early 1980s and that, no, the world is not "running out of oil."
The chairman concluded: "So far this year, the rise in the value of imported oil--essentially a tax on U.S. residents--has amounted to about three-quarters of one percent of gross domestic product. The effects were far larger in the crises of the 1970s. But, obviously, the risk of more serious negative consequences would intensify if oil prices were to move materially higher."
Greenspan
The new data estimate total world oil reserves at 1.15 t barrel, about 10 % higher than previously reported for 2002. Additionally, global oil reserves have increased almost continuously over the past 30 years, BP officials said. World reserves now represent 41 years of production at current rates.
By comparison, in 1980 reserves equivalent to only 29 years of production were known. The world has now produced some 80 % of the oil reserves that were known in 1980; yet exploration success and application of technology has led to current reserves that are 70 % higher, BP said. The company has published its statistical review of world energy for 53 years.
Looking at natural gas, BP reported global reserves of 176 tcm, 13 % higher than those previously reported for 2002. The company said that gas reserves have more than doubled since 1980 as a result of exploration, new technology, and the "unstranding" of gas reserves through LNG and other technologies.
BP Group CEO John Browne emphasized that oil and gas are not being depleted at an accelerated rate.
"The data [illustrate] the continued growth in reserve volumes across the world," Browne wrote in the review's introduction. "At current levels of consumption, there are sufficient reserves to meet oil demand for some 40 years and to meet natural gas demand for well over 60 years."
www.gasandoil.com...
Not running out in the sense that we won't have oil tomorrow. We're running out as in winding down. The amount of oil the world can produce is tapering off while demand is increasing.
Today I would like to point out an article that I saw linked on the Drudge Report. The article is titled World oil supplies are set to run out faster than expected, warn scientists.
This news article makes some astounding points.
Points such as how BP denied for over 2 years that their British North Sea reserves had peaked and were declining. This same company today wants you to believe that we have 4 decades of oil left. They are lying now just as they did back then.
An independent oil company says that more than ten billion barrels of North Sea oil could remain untapped.
Paul Blakely, who works with Talisman Energy, says that large energy corporations are no longer interested in extracting and selling the reserves.
The UK Offshore Operators Association has said there are plans to extract less than half the oil thought to be left in the North Sea.
Currently, they prefer to drill for oil in more common locations and industry experts say that exploration in the North Sea is at an all time low.
Insiders also say under-used assets have not been sold on to smaller companies keen to exploit them in new ways.
If methods are not discovered soon to get at the remainder of supplies in the North Sea, the infrastructure that brings it to the surface will be too old to use.
www.energybulletin.net...
"As one of the largest North Sea discoveries in the last decade, the Buzzard field will significantly boost overall UK oil production," said Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
"The field beginning production is good news for the industry and our economy. We know there are still between 15 and 20 billion barrels in the North Sea, and, with Buzzard, the UK should return to being a net exporter over the next couple of years."
Charlie Fischer, president and chief executive of the major shareholder, the Canadian energy giant Nexen, added: "The Buzzard development is a key component of our North Sea growth strategy."
thescotsman.scotsman.com...
My favorite quote from this article comes from Dr David Campbell, a former chief geologist and vice-president for several major oil companies. He personally believes we have already passed the peak of easily obtainable oil.
Dr Campbell, is a former chief geologist and vice-president at a string of oil majors including BP, Shell, Fina, Exxon and ChevronTexaco. He explains that the peak of regular oil - the cheap and easy to extract stuff - has already come and gone in 2005
Why is he saying this now? Dr Campbell states "When I was the boss of an oil company I would never tell the truth. It's not part of the game." Do any of you honestly believe that we're not being lied to? What further proof do you need?
I know you people here are hard to please and sometimes overly skeptic, so let me give you more evidence. Let's look at the world's oil production rates in the last few years.
If we're not running out of oil then petroleum companies should be increasing supply to keep up with demand or at the very least keeping supply on the same level.
Oddly though, when we look at the production rates we see that production is actually tapering off.
The peroleum industry is either reducing production to increase prices, or we're seeing an actual problem with their ability to get oil out of the ground.
The real price of gasoline (in inflation adjusted 2005 dollars) remains below the 1981 peak.
www.eia.doe.gov...
Neither explanation is comforting. These charts back up Dr Campbell's claim that 2005 was the peak year. The alarm bells are ringing loud a clear but will any one hear them?
One group of individuals who obviously hears the alarm quite well is the much hated Bush administration. You don't honestly believe that we invaded Iraq to stabilize and secure a source of dates and palm trees?
We're clearly not concerned with mass genocide. Why do you think that Sudan gets ignored when millions there die from internal struggle.
Of course the real reason we invaded the Middle East is because 2/3 of the world's remaining oil supply is located there.
Jump over to your favorite news site and see how many of today's stories are centered around Iran and the Persian Gulf.
When the U.S. attacks Iran, and they will attack Iran, you'll hear all about how Iran was invaded to stop their nuclear ambitions.
Oddly enough N. Korea got away with creating nuclear bombs and thumbed their noses at the world. Did we see 3 aircraft carriers flock to the region to keep things stable? No, the U.S. doesn't really care about N. Korea having bombs anymore than they care about Iran having bombs.
I suspect that Iran has as many nuclear bombs as Iraq had chemical weapons. Fortunately for the Bush administration, you don't need proof to attack. Just a good story to scare everyone into action.
Before we start to bash the Republican party, let's think about how good their ratings will be once OPEC announces that they can't keep up with demand.
Which country is going to get short-changed. I doubt it will be the one with 3 carrier groups and 300,000 troops on the ground in the middle east. They'll probably manage to persuade OPEC to sell them all the oil they can even if it means the Chinese will have to walk to work.
There you have it folks. I've just leaked the big secret to why everything seems to be going crazy all at once.
Now go back to your little groups and argue if a plane or a missile hit the Pentagon.
Keep arguing about the symptoms and ignore the causes.
It makes it much easier for the oil companies to keep you in the dark.
Originally posted by NGC2736
Actually, we've all known for some time that supply was limited.
The fact of just how fast this is happening is all that is up for debate.
The 'oil embargo' of the 70s was the wake up call.
I say that it would be better to bite the bullet now, develop new technologies, and move on.
Much like a smoker quitting cigarettes, just quit.
It would be hard, there would be withdrawal, and for a while life would be rough. Then we would adjust.
Nuclear power for electricity, bio-fuels, and public transportation could take up much of the slack.
Lifestyle changes would be made, not because we wanted to, but because we had no choice.
As long as war is a choice, we will take that over giving up our SUVs and our AC.
And as long as someone else trades blood for oil, we will cling to the old way as long as we can. Humans are by nature selfish.
I see the Middle East as a battleground, until there is no gain left there. When the constant war, and our own actions at home, speed us to this final few gallons of oil, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
It is not that people don't want to hear the message, that they snooze through the warnings.
It is because they fear facing a future that will be radically different than their past.
They don't post much on these issues because in their hearts they know that a portion of the blame for all of this is on their own shoulders.
Yes, our leaders are scum, but that scum is doing what we want, giving us oil at the price of blood.
The next time you fill the truck and tie on the 30' boat, in your mind see that the gas is as red as the blood in your own veins.
We share the guilt for this war, and that knowledge cannot be totally shifted to our leadership, no matter how hard we try.
In 2000, non-OPEC crude output was 66 mb/d and the split of
non-OPEC crude production by light (>35 API), medium (26 to 35 API), and heavy (
Originally posted by dbates
More cracks in the dam. Not only has global oil production peaked. (Fact unless production increases),
it seems that the light, sweet crude output has peaked for the world as well. The light crude is the oil that most easily refined and what the refineries prefer to run through their cat crackers since it's requires much less effort to get a final product.
What is my source for this knowledge? It's not some far-out peak oil forum, it's straight from OPEC. Look at page 4 of the report. While OPEC did make some increases in sweet crude from 2000 - 2004, the rest of the world lost much more sweet crude than OPEC could make up for.
In 2000, non-OPEC crude output was 66 mb/d and the split of
non-OPEC crude production by light (>35 API), medium (26 to 35 API), and heavy (
Originally posted by kglarsen
There's more than enough oil for the next many centuries, we just haven't found it yet!
Originally posted by dbates
Yes, and there's lots of undiscovered gold in Colorado, but you can't claim your land there as a gold-mine and use it as collateral to buy a mansion just because you believe that there's gold underground in the area. It's all just speculation. You can't use oil you haven't found yet either.
One of the big misunderstandings about Peak Oil is that no one is denying that there's new oil out there we haven't tapped into yet.
There are probably billions of barrels still waiting to be found.
The problem is that it takes time and the investment of billions of dollars to get to this oil.
Also the oil that is left is not as easy to get to as the large oil fields we currently use today.
Put together a growing demand for oil, with a flattened or slightly decreasing production supply and you get disaster.