Advocacy & Safety - Chevron Oil (finally) admits it...

--- OK folks, the CEO of Chevron is facing up to the oil peak crisis and talking to us, the consuming public: www.willyoujoinus.com/vision/
Their announcement is a huge boost to bicycling advocacy. I predict we cyclists will play a big role in helping our communities to become sustainable during the energy famine. Keep your tires pumped up and tell your friends.
www.hubbertpeak.com/campbell/

Over the long term, peak oil is real, although short term prices and supplies will fluctuate. If done correctly, the conversion from a petrolem-based economy to alternative energy and aggressive conservation will be one of the biggest economic OPPORTUNITIES this country has ever enjoyed.

In addition, I was very pleased to hear President Bush finally admitting that the U.S. needs to something about global warming. While rejecting the precise terms of the Kyoto Agreement, he did pledge that over the next decade, the U.S. will generate 18% less CO2 per unit of economic productivity. We BFers, of course, know what we can do in the transportation sector; now we just have to give the President some lessons in bike safety. :)

I disagree, having read The Myth of "Peak Oil" (http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1717) by Charles Featherstone.

One small factoid of interest: there is more petroleum within the Athabasca Tar Sands than in all of the rest of the world combined. It's only a matter of time before production techniques will make refining it profitable.

Depends on your definition of "long term," I suppose. In the long-long-long term, it is absolutely inevitable that at some point the alternatives will overtake oil as the best choice economically. If the U.S. controls those sources, we get to continue Pax Americana.
(More or less.)

This is all just my opinion, of course.

I disagree, having read The Myth of "Peak Oil" (http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1717) by Charles Featherstone.

One small factoid of interest: there is more petroleum within the Athabasca Tar Sands than in all of the rest of the world combined. It's only a matter of time before production techniques will make refining it profitable.

I think Charles must have feathers or stones in his head. He doesn't really understand (or pretends not to) what Peak Oil means. It doesn't mean that oil is about to run out, it just means we've used up half of the reserves. Anyone who tells you differently is ignorant about the issue. No informed person who speaks of Peak Oil believes we are about to run out, but that is the premise Featherstone takes great pains to refute.

Hitting Peak Oil simply means we have--or will hit the next couple of years--the half-point of usable world oil reserves. The half-point is also the high point of production, so production slowly dwindles after that point in time, and if demand continues to rise the prices ratchets up slowly and steadily, though it may go down at times as well.

The process of calculating the world peak is based on the geologist Hubert's work. Hubert's calculations nailed the U.S. peak. It isn't conjecture. The same calculations put the world peak sometime in the mid to late portion of this decade.

But again, hitting Hubert's Peak only means we've used up half. Featherstone, touted on the web page as a "journalist specializing in energy" should know this. Maybe he does. It's always easier to caricature the position you're attacking.

Featherstone does make good points otherwise, but his concluding paragraph amounts to a "we'll figure something out" when oil prices get too high, which is in direct opposition to 90% of his article. His only support for his conclusion is that humans will be "motivated" to innovate in order to prevent the drastic changes the end of cheap energy would require.

So I guess if we just want it badly enough we'll always have cheap energy. Somebody cue "When you wish upon a star." I guess that's what happens when you raise a society on Disney instead of religious or mythic traditions with real weight.

One small factoid of interest: there is more petroleum within the Athabasca Tar Sands than in all of the rest of the world combined. It's only a matter of time before production techniques will make refining it profitable.
--- Yes, it's only a matter of time before production techniques will catch up, but it looks like it will be too far into the future to avoid the energy crisis. To quote from Chevron Oil:

"Fossil fuels also exist in unconventional forms—hydrocarbons contained in oil-sands, and even shale are believed to have more energy content than all the oil in Saudi Arabia. The catch is that it may currently take more energy and may cost more to extract and produce oil from some of these unconventional forms than would be gained."
If the tar sands were an effective source of petroleum, the oil companies would have used that factoid to refute the crisis.

For the past 150 years, humanity has bought into the myth that "science" will always find timely solutions to the problems that "science" created. I would like this to be true, but at this point it looks like the solutions to global warming and depletion of petroleum reserves will come far too late, if they ever come at all. I am very glad that I will not be alive in 50 more years!

All fossil fuels are finite resources. They will run out, the real questions are when and what are we doing as a species to prepare for the inevitable? As the world population continues to grow while consumerism grows even faster (What happens when those billion plus people in China believe they are all entitled to a car the way Americans do?) the time of fossil fuel depletion grows closer and closer. If we are at the halfway point of the oil supply and it took roughly 150 years to use the great majority of that, it will take far less than 150 years to use the last half. Over 6 billion people on the planet right now, compared to less than 2 billion at the beginning of the 20th century. It doesn't take a genius to read the writing on the wall.

im too busy getting ready for y3k

I live 1/2 mile from one job and 8 miles from another job. My wife works 1 mile away from work. If we run out of oil I will use a wood burning stove and fireplace. I will also use the microwave. I think I will be okay.

[In addition, I was very pleased to hear President Bush finally admitting that the U.S. needs to something about global warming.

I don't buy into global warming. I don't know how old you are, but do back in the 70's scientists were warning us about global freezing. We were entering into a new ice age. Now it's global warming. I was reading recently in the paper that the overall temperatures of the Earth are 1 degree warmer than the 14th Century. At that time Earth was going through mini ice age, before the 14th Century temperatures were actually warmer than they are now. I don't know if you are going to believe that information or not but scientists don't even agree on global warming.

I live 1/2 mile from one job and 8 miles from another job. My wife works 1 mile away from work. If we run out of oil I will use a wood burning stove and fireplace. I will also use the microwave. I think I will be okay.

Long before we run that short of oil, your wood burning stove will be illegal to use. The proposals exist now to outlaw using fireplaces.

Long before we run that short of oil, your wood burning stove will be illegal to use. The proposals exist now to outlaw using fireplaces.

Oh shoot there goes that idea. They will take my wood burning stove when they pry it from my cold dead fingers. LOL

Rush Limbaugh says there ain't no Peak Oil and that's good enough for most 'murricans.

So, what you going to do about it?

(not being belligerent, most 'murricans really hang on the Limbster's every word, and most think there's a technological fix for everything. "Dammit, we got men to the MOON!! We beat the Russkis!")

--- Here is a short television ad by Chevron Oil. When peak oil is on TELEVISION, even Rush will believe it!
www.willyoujoinus.com/downloads/Chevron_Timeline-Lo.wmv

Get two bicycles, one to ride and one for parts.

Rush Limbaugh says there ain't no Peak Oil and that's good enough for most 'murricans.

So, what you going to do about it?

(not being belligerent, most 'murricans really hang on the Limbster's every word, and most think there's a technological fix for everything. "Dammit, we got men to the MOON!! We beat the Russkis!")Ironic...There's no way we could get someone on the moon today. That is lost technology. We can't even get the damn shuttle launched.

Nor are we anywhere close to "alternative energy" that could sustain current lifestyles.

--- Hey everybody, look at Chevron's new logo. www.willyoujoinus.com/vision/
They have trademarked the phrase: "Human Energy".
Excuse me but when I think of human energy, it is spelled b-i-c-y-c-l-e. Others may think of wheelchair or walking, or skateboard. How can they trademark that?

For the past 150 years, humanity has bought into the myth that "science" will always find timely solutions to the problems that "science" created. I would like this to be true, but at this point it looks like the solutions to global warming and depletion of petroleum reserves will come far too late, if they ever come at all. I am very glad that I will not be alive in 50 more years!


It's not a myth, it's just people have also become mentally blind since then and don't realize they were using that answer back when they were a child.

Basically it's arrogance meets pride vs common sense. arrogance in that the car is the "adult's vehicle" or the "superior vehicle", pride in that they refuse to use a "lesser vehicle", and common sense in that "you can go get that video at blockbuster just as easily on a bike, and use less gas...as in NONE!"

--- Chevron is not the only major oil company to face up to the peak oil crisis. Here is Exxon-Mobile:

"Now let’s look at the demand relative to the total liquids supply base out to 2030.
The non-OPEC crude and condensate outlook is shown in green at the bottom. Production is expected to peak in the next 10 years or so with 70 per cent of production from seven areas (Russia, US, North Sea, Mexico, Canada, China, Brazil)." [my bolds]
This quotation is not from some doomsday freak's blog, it is from Exxon-Mobile's own document:
www.exxonmobil.co.uk/UK-English/Newsroom/UK_NR_Speech_EO_150904.asp

Stock up extra tires and tubes.

--- If the tar sands were an effective source of petroleum, the oil companies would have used that factoid to refute the crisis.

Tar sands is a dead end. If we have to crush tons of rock and sand and employ thousands of workers to extract a gallon of oil, it will cost a fortune to drive! Furthermore, it will have to be process and refined before it's loaded on a tanker and shipped to your town when you finally get to pump it in your SUV at $275.00 dollars a gallon! I guess you won't be using the car very much.

Ironic...There's no way we could get someone on the moon today. That is lost technology. We can't even get the damn shuttle launched.


That's because the Nazi rocket scientists that built America's Space Program are now all dead of old age or retired. "We" beat the Russians in the space race because "we" were better at hunting down Hitler's scientists after WWII than the commies were.

Tar sands is a dead end. If we have to crush tons of rock and sand and employ thousands of workers to extract a gallon of oil, it will cost a fortune to drive! Furthermore, it will have to be process and refined before it's loaded on a tanker and shipped to your town when you finally get to pump it in your SUV at $275.00 dollars a gallon! I guess you won't be using the car very much.

Tar sands are already in use in Canada, which is the largest oil exporter to the US, yep its expensive, and messy, and an environmental nightmare, people thought strip mining was ugly, they should see tar oil mining LOL.

As far as peak oil, we are seeing it now, it may not even be the actual definition of peak oil either, what we are seeing is peak oil production, the world is producing about as much as it can.The big fields are declining rapidly due to being pushed too hard with technology.At any rate, once the world actually realizes this is all there is, no more indefinite ramping up of energy production, lots of things change.The US govt and others depend on indefinite infinite economic growth to work, once it becomes clear that it can no longer happen things are going to get ugly.

Oil is clearly in its end game, has been for years, what we are seeing now is very clear evidence of this, but as usual, we are also seeing explosive growth at the same time, something will have to give very soon.

I don't buy into global warming. I don't know how old you are, but do back in the 70's scientists were warning us about global freezing. We were entering into a new ice age. Now it's global warming. I was reading recently in the paper that the overall temperatures of the Earth are 1 degree warmer than the 14th Century. At that time Earth was going through mini ice age, before the 14th Century temperatures were actually warmer than they are now. I don't know if you are going to believe that information or not but scientists don't even agree on global warming.

Damn! I thought I was the only one who remembered that. I also remember people predicting that we'd be out of oil by the year 2000 and no one would own a car bigger than a Ford Pinto. There were also predictions that the world was running out of other basic resources such as copper -- which was supposed to be all depleted by now. I recall predictions of mass global starvation by the year 2000. I also remember a series of books about the coming global economic collapse. The books were titled "The Coming Great Depression of 1977", "The Coming Great Depression of 1978", "The Coming Great Depression of 1979", "The Coming Great Depression of 1980", "The Coming Great Depression of 1981", etc. These books were sold for about 25 years until the rubes finally caught on.

I disagree, having read The Myth of "Peak Oil" (http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1717) by Charles Featherstone.

One small factoid of interest: there is more petroleum within the Athabasca Tar Sands than in all of the rest of the world combined. It's only a matter of time before production techniques will make refining it profitable.

I have a friend who is an exec for one of the oil companies in the Tar Sands and their break even is $20 per barrel. So it already is profitable. Any engineers looking for work, they are hiring thousands of new people over the next few months (years). Starting salary is $80,000 with no experience. Experienced workers are making $120,000 plus.

As for Kyoto, Bush has unwittingly done more for the environment than Kyoto could have done. By helping oil prices rise to record levels he has not only helped his oil friends acheive record profits, he has forced companies and individuals to be more vigilant about the way they use energy and to seek alternatives. You don't see Hummers flying off the lots any more. Bush the environmentalist...who would have thought!

Damn! I thought I was the only one who remembered that. I also remember people predicting that we'd be out of oil by the year 2000 and no one would own a car bigger than a Ford Pinto. There were also predictions that the world was running out of other basic resources such as copper -- which was supposed to be all depleted by now. I recall predictions of mass global starvation by the year 2000. I also remember a series of books about the coming global economic collapse. The books were titled "The Coming Great Depression of 1977", "The Coming Great Depression of 1978", "The Coming Great Depression of 1979", "The Coming Great Depression of 1980", "The Coming Great Depression of 1981", etc. These books were sold for about 25 years until the rubes finally caught on.

Have you seen Soilent Green? Great movie!

BTW: I think the Jehovah's Witnesses are still producing books like those. Scare mongerers are everywhere and the news media is no better. If we listened to everything they said, we would shut ourselves in our houses and not do anything. Child molesters are lurking on every corner, so don't let your kids out of the house by themselves. Terrorists are ready to strike you where you work, so don't take public transit. And the bird flu is going to wipe out half the world's population, so you better wear a mask and wash your hands every five minutes!

Damn! I thought I was the only one who remembered that. I also remember people predicting that we'd be out of oil by the year 2000 and no one would own a car bigger than a Ford Pinto. There were also predictions that the world was running out of other basic resources such as copper -- which was supposed to be all depleted by now. I recall predictions of mass global starvation by the year 2000. I also remember a series of books about the coming global economic collapse. The books were titled "The Coming Great Depression of 1977", "The Coming Great Depression of 1978", "The Coming Great Depression of 1979", "The Coming Great Depression of 1980", "The Coming Great Depression of 1981", etc. These books were sold for about 25 years until the rubes finally caught on.

Man said for centuries that we couldnt fly or go to the moon either.

Have you seen Soilent Green? Great movie!

BTW: I think the Jehovah's Witnesses are still producing books like those. Scare mongerers are everywhere and the news media is no better. If we listened to everything they said, we would shut ourselves in our houses and not do anything. Child molesters are lurking on every corner, so don't let your kids out of the house by themselves. Terrorists are ready to strike you where you work, so don't take public transit. And the bird flu is going to wipe out half the world's population, so you better wear a mask and wash your hands every five minutes!

Yes, Soilent Green was a 1970's classic. I encourage everyone to rent it.

As for government scare tactics --

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed(and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." - H.L. Mencken

Starting salary is $80,000 with no experience. Experienced workers are making $120,000 plus.

Yeah, but that's in Canadian dollars.

As for government scare tactics --

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed(and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." - H.L. Mencken

terrorism

I think Charles must have feathers or stones in his head. He doesn't really understand (or pretends not to) what Peak Oil means. It doesn't mean that oil is about to run out, it just means we've used up half of the reserves. Anyone who tells you differently is ignorant about the issue. No informed person who speaks of Peak Oil believes we are about to run out, but that is the premise Featherstone takes great pains to refute.


So I guess if we just want it badly enough we'll always have cheap energy. Somebody cue "When you wish upon a star." I guess that's what happens when you raise a society on Disney instead of religious or mythic traditions with real weight.


Thanks for the good retort. You saved me the trouble. ;)

Damn! I thought I was the only one who remembered that. I also remember people predicting that we'd be out of oil by the year 2000 and no one would own a car bigger than a Ford Pinto. There were also predictions that the world was running out of other basic resources such as copper -- which was supposed to be all depleted by now. I recall predictions of mass global starvation by the year 2000. I also remember a series of books about the coming global economic collapse. The books were titled "The Coming Great Depression of 1977", "The Coming Great Depression of 1978", "The Coming Great Depression of 1979", "The Coming Great Depression of 1980", "The Coming Great Depression of 1981", etc. These books were sold for about 25 years until the rubes finally caught on.

So what's your point?

Aren't you the guy who hates cyclists slowing you down in your car? :p

Man said for centuries that we couldnt fly or go to the moon either.

It was also "proven" that above 60 mph, train passengers would asphyxiate due to the air being sucked out of the carriage.

I disagree, having read The Myth of "Peak Oil" (http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1717) by Charles Featherstone.

As a member of the Mises Institute, Featherstone is neither a disinterested party nor lacking in political motivation - his papers are crafted to reflect and support a particular political / philisophical / economic theory, and may or may not reflect informed scientific opinion. Which is not to say he's *wrong* - but I'd encourage a sceptical reading of *all* sources on this and other such charged issues.

I wouldn't take anything on junkscience.com too literally, either ;)

As a member of the Mises Institute, Featherstone is neither a disinterested party nor lacking in political motivation - his papers are crafted to reflect and support a particular political / philisophical / economic theory, and may or may not reflect informed scientific opinion. Which is not to say he's *wrong* - but I'd encourage a sceptical reading of *all* sources on this and other such charged issues.

I wouldn't take anything on junkscience.com too literally, either ;)

Nobody partaking in 'peak oil' debates is disinterested or politically unmotivated. Everyone involved uses 'peak oil' as a justification/rationalization/reason/excuse to promote their agendas.

Nobody partaking in 'peak oil' debates is disinterested or politically unmotivated. Everyone involved uses 'peak oil' as a justification/rationalization/reason/excuse to promote their agendas.

Sure - which is all the more reason to read widely and make your own judgements; I stand by my criticism of the fellow who posted that he didn't believe in peak oil apparently solely on the grounds that he'd read Featherstone.

Sure - which is all the more reason to read widely and make your own judgements; I stand by my criticism of the fellow who posted that he didn't believe in peak oil apparently solely on the grounds that he'd read Featherstone.

I certainly agree that it is best to investigate both sides of this (or any) issue before forming an opinion.

let us assume energy prices reach a point where it's just not possible for the average middle class person to afford to fill up their car, or run their central air at a comfy 72 degrees... it is only natuaral that this will put a strain on the economy in general. Our entire society and economy is based on access to cheap and plentifull energy. I'm sorry but if it gets to the point where we dont have access to cheap energy, you wont have a job to ride your bike to pal.

let us assume energy prices reach a point where it's just not possible for the average middle class person to afford to fill up their car, or run their central air at a comfy 72 degrees... it is only natuaral that this will put a strain on the economy in general. Our entire society and economy is based on access to cheap and plentifull energy. I'm sorry but if it gets to the point where we dont have access to cheap energy, you wont have a job to ride your bike to pal.Hi pal. :)

Well, I agree to a point, but I wouldn't go that far. A very large increase in the cost of energy would probably fuel inflation and unemployment, and there might even be a drop in the standard of living. But no matter what happens with society and the economy, people will still have to work, unless bread starts to fall from the sky.

My vote is for renewable energy. Why not a hydrogen car? 7.6 bottles of Evian at $1.19 a bottle = $9. a gallon. I hope they get great fuel mileage. Better yet, lets just commute on bikes.

My family budgets about $150 a month for gas, $250 a month for utilities in the home. In the mild seasons such as the spring and fall the energy bills drop quite a bit and allow us to build a supplus to cover the higher cost of the winter and summer months. If energy prices continue to surge beyond the rate of inflation (which if you're lucky, dictates the increase in your sallary from year to year) we'll be forced to tap into other funds to cover energy expenses. This means disposible income, savings, or for most people out there: credit Cards. Since our generation already forgot how to save: our options are: disposible income, and credit cards. If people are spending their disposible income or debt margin on energy rather than goods and services, we WILL see economic slowdown. This will also put a strain on any industry that relies on energy. Remember there really isn't much that doesn't rely on cheap energy anymore. The exception being an Amish road-side stand selling blankets and fudge. But even those guys are using cars these days! It's not like oil prices are going to skyrocket and everything is going to crash and people are going to run wild in the streets. NO. We will see a slowdown though. Industries will start to die off.

Manufacturing: Cheap energy powers the factories, they are going to have to start growing money, or downsize a lot to keep 'em running

Agricaulture: Petroleum-based pesticides, Gas / Diesel-powered machinery. Once again, efficiancy and productivity will be strained by rising energy cost.

Transportation: well that one kind of explains itself.

Our unsustainable "progress" WILL grind to a hault. Our economy WILL colapse, and the remains of the industrial revolution will errode. With a bit of luck those that live through this will learn from our ways. Although history does tend to repeat itself.

My vote is for renewable energy. Why not a hydrogen car? 7.6 bottles of Evian at $1.19 a bottle = $9. a gallon. I hope they get great fuel mileage. Better yet, lets just commute on bikes.


And how do you suggest we build and transport the car to the point of sale. Can we convince the auto industry to convert the manufacturing process to renewable energy and still have an affordable product in the end?

That's because the Nazi rocket scientists that built America's Space Program are now all dead of old age or retired. "We" beat the Russians in the space race because "we" were better at hunting down Hitler's scientists after WWII than the commies were.

...and Germany's rocket program was built by pilfering the patented designs of Dr. Robert Goddard.

People all have their points of view, sure. But you can understand this stuff. Read Ken Deffeyes' book (http://www.princeton.edu/hubbert/) and judge for yourself.

My undergrad is from the geo dept at princeton and I can tell you that Ken is an excellent professor who's great at explaining things. The math isn't hard and you'll learn lots of interesting stuff about a subject that's sure to be in the news for the next few decades.

As as far as trust goes, I'd believe someone like Deffeyes who's long demonstrated a curiosity about how the physical world actually works over some corporate pr flack (http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=2665) any day. But maybe that's just me ;)

...and Germany's rocket program was built by pilfering the patented designs of Dr. Robert Goddard.

Goddard gets credit as the father of modern rocketry, but the fact remains: No Von Braun, no Apollo program. "We" managed to snatch up Von Braun before Stalin's thugs did. Let's just pretend "we" never heard about that little unpleasantness with London, Antwerp and the slave laborers.

What can I say about the man who was most responsible for 'Merica's manned space program? He aimed for the moon, but sometimes he hit London.

Politics is a dirty business, sonny. It's time you learned that. :D

Nobody partaking in 'peak oil' debates is disinterested or politically unmotivated. Everyone involved uses 'peak oil' as a justification/rationalization/reason/excuse to promote their agendas. --- I, for one, trust the oil geologists, scientists and engineers to be closest to the proven facts and farthest from political agendas. Having worked within the scientific community myself, I know those people have a passion to base their conclusions on the rigorous protocols of scientific research. I do not trust politicians, entertainers or "activists" when I search for the truth about peak oil.

--- I, for one, trust the oil geologists, scientists and engineers to be closest to the proven facts and farthest from political agendas. Having worked within the scientific community myself, I know those people have a passion to base their conclusions on the rigorous protocols of scientific research. I do not trust politicians, entertainers or "activists" when I search for the truth about peak oil.


All the signs of whats coming and necessary data are there for people to look at right NOW, you dont have to believe what others say.Lets take a look at the current situation as it stands with undisputed data:

currently the spare world oil production capacity is about 1-1.5million bpd of sour crude that doesnt have a market,all available refining capacity for sour crude is in use already

The US refining capacity is roughly 20million bpd and is running at 98-100%---------NO PLANS FOR EXPANSION of any size--------BIG HINT HERE FOLKS, oil companies make $$,lots of it, if they needed or expected to need more refining capacity they would build it, NIMBY or not

US growth of consumption is growing at the pace of the economy, about 3-3.5% annually, meaning by mid 2006 all else being equal, oil supply wont meet demand.......here or worldwide

US oil production is declining, Prudhoe bay is crashing hard

North Sea Brent is declining rapidly

Saudi Arabia Ghawar field has a 40% water cut and climbing !!!!(this is deathly serious)

The UK just took its first shipment of LNG in history recently.........alarm bells here please

China cant quench its thirst for oil, neither can India or Japan.........not enough supply, these are sizable nations....more alarm bells

the upcoming ramp up in production worldwide slated for 2007 will face a decline in worldwide production by then of about 10million bpd and wont make up the difference=world oil peak production is happening now for all practical purposes

the big oil companies are merging like crazy and downgrading their overinflated reserve numbers

OPEC is using the same reserve numbers as they have for the last 10-20yrs despite pumping billions of barrels of oil out !!!

Iran-----oil exporter, cant produce enough electricity !!!

All OPEC members are pumping wide open over quota and have been for quite awhile with zero effect on prices

****************************************************************************************************

Add all this up into one big picture and it sure looks like oil peak to me, and a never ending energy crunch is about to happen

Iran-----oil exporter, cant produce enough electricity !!!

Curious!!! But it has nothing to do with the capacity to pump oil out of the ground!!!

(Exclamation points added to mimick false sense of urgency)

Curious!!! But it has nothing to do with the capacity to pump oil out of the ground!!!

(Exclamation points added to mimick false sense of urgency)

Well, if your a country with oil reserves but need electricity the obvious thing to do would be build some diesel powerplants, and they did for awhile, then stopped, why would they do that?Same question applies to US oil refiners, why not build more capacity since its clearly going to be needed,and real soon, we already are importing distillates now.Well the obvious answer is theyve looked at their realistic reserves and future production capacity and longevity and realized that it wouldnt be cost effective to go that route, and if thats the case, the oil supply is pretty limited...........Oil refineries might not pay for themsleves for 15-20yrs, petroleum powerplants do pay for themselves pretty quickly, and they dont involve that much outlay in start up $$ vs other types.Yet at the same time the UAE and Saudi Arabia are buidling refining capacity albeit slowly and just enough to cover current production estimates into about 2015, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together.Taken as a whole, methinks the evidence of production peaking is pretty obvious, how quickly it falls and how long the plateau lasts we can only guess, but one thinsg for certain, unlimited growth is about to meet the realities of geology.

Just a note, all that sand-tar-oil stuff in Canada is on China's target list for purchase.

Somebody wants it for something.

Well, if your a country with oil reserves but need electricity the obvious thing to do would be build some diesel powerplants, and they did for awhile, then stopped, why would they do that?Same question applies to US oil refiners, why not build more capacity since its clearly going to be needed,and real soon, we already are importing distillates now.Well the obvious answer is theyve looked at their realistic reserves and future production capacity and longevity and realized that it wouldnt be cost effective to go that route, and if thats the case, the oil supply is pretty limited...........Oil refineries might not pay for themsleves for 15-20yrs, petroleum powerplants do pay for themselves pretty quickly, and they dont involve that much outlay in start up $$ vs other types.Yet at the same time the UAE and Saudi Arabia are buidling refining capacity albeit slowly and just enough to cover current production estimates into about 2015, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together.Taken as a whole, methinks the evidence of production peaking is pretty obvious, how quickly it falls and how long the plateau lasts we can only guess, but one thinsg for certain, unlimited growth is about to meet the realities of geology.

Or maybe your a third world country and have the infrastructure to prove it.