1. 29 April 2006

    984 days ago

    Oil Poster

    Peak Oil, illustrated:

    As this poster makes abundantly clear, we

    via Kjell Olsen984 days ago

  2. 21 January 2006

    1082 days ago

    What they don't want you to know about the coming oil crisis

    Our society is in a state of collective denial that has no precedent in history, in terms of its scale and implications.

    It’s debatable how much oil is left, as to the fact that none of the OPEC countries keep accurate books. But the most optimistic speculators assume no more then 3 trillion barrels remain on earth.

    If 2 trillion barrels of oil or more indeed remain, the topping point lies far away in the 2030s. The “growing” and “cheap” parts of the oil-supply equation are feasible until then, at least in principle, and we have enough time to bring in the alternatives to oil. If only 1 trillion barrels remain, however, the topping point will arrive some time soon, and certainly before this decade is out. The “growing” and “cheap” parts of the oil-supply equation become impossible, and there probably isn’t even enough time to make a sustainable transition to alternatives.

    Half the world’s oil lies in its 100 largest fields, and all of these hold 2 billion barrels or more, and almost all of them were discovered more than a quarter of a century ago. Consider the recent record of discoveries of giant oil- and gas-fields of over 500 million barrels of oil or oil equivalent. Half a billion barrels – the definition of a “giant” field – sounds a lot. But since the world is eating up more than 80 million barrels of oil a day at the moment, it is in fact less than a week’s global supply. In 2000 there were 16 discoveries of 500 million barrels of oil equivalent or bigger. In 2001 there were nine. In 2002 there were just two. In 2003 there were none.

    But in 1985, they [OPEC nations] began to – how shall I put it? – massage the data. Kuwait was the first to give in to temptation. They found that their reserves had gone up overnight from 64 to 90 billion barrels. In 1988, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Iran and Iraq all played the same card. Abu Dhabi had been so needlessly conservative that their reserves went up from 31 to 92 billion barrels. They surely must have employed some incompetent geologists. How could they have overlooked 60 billion barrels? Finally, in 1990, Saudi Arabia decided it too had been conservative, hiking its total from 170 to 258 billion barrels.

    Is there any chance that the early topping point of oil production is somehow wrong, all just a bad dream? I am sorry to say that I think not. It is important to realise that the early toppers are not advocates or agitators by choice. They tend to have high residual affection for the industry they have spent their lives in.

    The peak of oil discovery was 1965. 41 years ago.

    And it’s not just that we’re running out of oil, we can no longer extract and process what oil there is into economically viable forms at the rate of demand.

    Slowly but surely the US military is being converted into a global oil-protection service Michael Klare

    Kjell Olsen1082 days ago

  3. 06 June 2005

    1311 days ago

    Hubbert peak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Excellent wikipedia page on the idea of peak oil. For a nice look at the consequences that peak oil could bring upon us, have a loot at The Long Emergency, just published last month. Man do people write good stuff on wikipedia.

    via Kjell Olsen1311 days ago

  4. Also somewhat recently

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