Concerns are mounting about peak oil, and there continues to be much debate over when the peak will be reached, whether a plateau can be sustained or whether the onset of decline would occur quickly, whether we will hit peak demand before we hit peak supply, etc.
There is convincing evidence that conventional oil production has already peaked, since we have been stuck at around 74 mbpd for over half a decade (despite the incentive of record high prices).
There also seems to be growing consensus that global liquids production (currently around 86 mbpd) is likely to peak within the next decade and almost certainly at less than 95 mbpd.
(Mainstream opinion a few years ago predicted no peak before 2030, with output at 130 mbpd.)
However, there are increasing warnings about an “oil supply crunch” within the next few years, not because of geological constraints, but because of under-investment.
These warnings began just over two years ago, yet the mainstream media have rarely mentioned them, so the public remains largely unaware.
Listed below is a chronology of some of these warnings, with URL links to the original sources.
One of the first warnings came from the chief economist of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol in the summer of 2007 and then reiterated in Nov. 2007, cited here:
http://www.davidstrahan.com/blog/?p=73
In May 2008 the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled, Energy Watchdog Warns of Oil Supply Crunch:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121139527250011387.html
This was followed by a study from Chatham House, a highly regarded think-tank in the UK. In August 2008, it published a paper entitled The Coming Oil Supply Crunch in which author Paul Stevens predicted a shortage within the next 5-10 years. His 40-page study (which includes a May 09 reaffirmation of his 08 prediction) is available here:
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/652/
On Nov. 15, 2008 the International Energy Agency released its annual World Energy Outlook, which was something of a bombshell. The IEA, which had been quite dismissive of peak oil, suddenly warned, “What is needed is nothing short of an energy revolution… the era of cheap oil is over… time is running out….”
It further warned, “Some 30 mb/d of new capacity is needed by 2015. There remains a real risk that under-investment will cause an oil-supply crunch in that timeframe” (WEO, Executive Summary, p. 7).
The Executive Summary of the 2008 WEO is available here:
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/docs/weo2008/WEO2008_es_english.pdf
more… ➡
– research thanks to Tony H.