The recurring myth of Peak Oil

[ronpaulforprez2008]

http://aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=167656

The Peak Oil theory maintains that world production of conventional oil will soon reach a maximum, or peak, and decline thereafter, with grave socio-economic consequences. Some proponents of the theory argue that world oil production has already peaked, and is now in a terminal decline.

 

[Nanerbeet]

I read on Wikipedia that one year of world-wide oil usage is equal to 422 years of natural oil production.


If thats true, and the earth has been around for billions years, there ought to be at least a few million years worth of oil left.

 

[NewEnd]

no, peak oil says growth in demand will soon outstrip growth in supply.

 

[InterestedParticipant]

It is my understanding that many scientists have proof that oil regenerates itself and therefore will never run out. The scarcity stuff is BS.

 

[RonPaulVolunteer]

no, peak oil says growth in demand will soon outstrip growth in supply.

Not true. Peak oil says once it's gone, it's gone.

I believe oil is not dead dinos, and is a renewable resource.

I believe we NEED to stop using oil as quickly as possible because it's a disgusting pollutant.

I believe we need to keep using it until we can better use solar.

I believe the more oil we remove from the earth, the more it's going to affect many things we won't understand for decades to come. Like earthquakes.

I believe burning oil has little to zero contribution to global warming.

 

[Fox McCloud]

even if it will never "run out", you can still only pull it out of the so fast, and you still (here's the BIG part) have to find the stuff....and that's not cheap, so even if we will never run out...well, let me put it this way; if we don't invest enough (as in private companies not government) in finding new oil sources...major ouch.

 

[Matt Collins]

Jerome Corsi has a great book out:

Black Gold Stranglehold - the myth of scarcity of oil.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Gold-St...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223613450&sr=8-3

 

[NewEnd]

It is my understanding that many scientists have proof that oil regenerates itself and therefore will never run out. The scarcity stuff is BS.

No.

Not true. Peak oil says once it's gone, it's gone.

*sigh* no.

 

[wortguy]

Confessions of an Ex-Peak Oil Believer - by F. William Engdahl

 

[ChickenHawk]

The fossil fuel theory never made much sense to me. How did such enormous amounts organic matter end up thousands of feet, or even several miles, under ground? The abiotic theory, from an uneducated perspective at least, makes a lot more sense. Obviously I could be wrong, but the fact the fossil fuel believers are so hostile to the abiotic theory just makes me more suspicious.

 

[youngbuck]

No.



*sigh* no.

Ok, wise one, what exactly does Peak Oil entail?

 

[NewEnd]

Ok, wise one, what exactly does Peak Oil entail?

post #3

 

[dannno]

Post #3: no, peak oil says growth in demand will soon outstrip growth in supply.

Well it's a good thing oil suppliers aren't colluding, because that could certainly bring a false impression that we were reaching peak oil

 

[NewEnd]

Well it's a good thing oil suppliers aren't colluding, because that could certainly bring a false impression that we were reaching peak oil

Really, simplistic one liners do not do the theory of peak oil any justice. Oil suppliers can collude, (although Russia is not a part of OPEC, niether is Mexico and Argentina, in fact, only about a dozen countries are members.

Oil is complicated, but lets put it like this, there has not been a major oilfield discovery since the eighties ('79, I believe). The ones we are still finding are average to small fields, and in increasingly more and more difficult locales, and requiring more and more difficult processes to harvest. We will continue to find oil fields all over the globe, but the question will be, how big are they, what kind of oil, and how easy is it to tap that oil.

There are many ways to tap oil too, the most common is drilling, but eventually, once that has been used up, there is steam injection and helium methods, which are more expensive, and counting the amount of energy put in, compared to the amount of energy to take out, not very efficient, or sometimes, even a sink.