Peak oil – Nov 15

Click on the headline (link) for the full text.

Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage

The latest interview with Matt Simmons
Pimm Box, Bloomberg
(14 November 2007)
William Tamblyn writes:
A 10-minute interview with Matt Simmons (11/14/07) which could hardly disagree more than it does with the recent optimistic statements from Saudi Aramco Pres. and Chief Executive Abdallah Jum’ah about the future of oil production in general and the future of Saudi production in particular.

US Petroleum Supply: Some Overview Graphs
Gail the Actuary, The Oil Drum
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) puts out a lot of data. Even for the United States, the amount of data is overwhelming. To get an overview, I have prepared some graphs showing information I find interesting, and occasionally somewhat alarming. I include links to the underlying data, so those who are good with Excel can find data to make their own graphs.
(14 November 2007)
Well-deserved compliments for Gail’s writing in the comments:

Leanan: Agree that Gail does have a great knack for communicating. I always figured it was because, unlike the rest of us, she’s not an engineer, scientist, or computer geek.

Broadband Vs. Peak Oil Revisited
Geoff Daily, App-Rising
A week ago today I wrote a post about what a world without oil would look like if we were to more fully embrace the possibilities of broadband, coming to the conclusion that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

Those thoughts garnered the attention of Marc Strassman through Jim Baller and his highly recommended email newsletter.

Marc is an editor/producer for the Etopia News Channel and host of the Strassman Report. He covers a wide range of topics, but in particular has recently focused on the nexus of Peak Oil and telecommuting, recently coining the term “petrocommuting” as a way to highlight the gas-guzzling nature of most any physical commute.

He pinged me late last week and we set up an interview to discuss these issues.

To conduct the interview we stepped boldly into the 21st century using a videocalling application I’ve written about before called SightSpeed. Here is the resultant video:

link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid932411100?bclid=1293598784&bctid=1304989962
(13 November 2007)
The original post that Geoff Daily wrote on the subject is: Gaming the Future: A World Without Oil.

Author explores oil’s impact on society
Craig Wieczorkiewica, My Web Times
Tom Mast, whose experience in the engineering and manufacturing fields included involvement in the oil industry, published the book “Over a Barrel: A Simple Guide to the Oil Shortage.” The Austin, Texas, resident’s book includes a history of how oil came to be so vital to transportation and takes a look at some oil alternatives and their environmental, social and technological impacts. The book is intended to be read by an adult in less than two hours. Mast recently answered several questions about the book and its topic for The Times.

Q: You’ve written a book about increasing worldwide oil demand and its projected effect on oil production. What inspired you to write the book, and why should people care about your thoughts on oil usage?

A: I am concerned about my children, in their upper 30s, and my grandchildren not having adequate transportation during their lifetimes. Scarce oil is going to put a severe squeeze on the use of oil-based fuels for transportation in the decades to come. I am also optimistic enough to feel we can work our way out of this dilemma with technology, but we are waiting very late to tackle the problem aggressively.

…Q: Briefly explain the current trend for world supply and demand for oil and why you believe it should worry people.

A: America’s oil production peaked in 1970 and has decreased about 1 percent per year since. It followed a curve of increase and decline also common for individual oil wells and oil fields. Many knowledgeable people feel the world’s oil production is following this same mountain-shaped curve and we are very near the peak now.
(14 November 2007)

Petrobras Sees Tupi Peak Production in 10-15 Years
David Roman, Dow Jones Newswires
Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, anticipates that the hydrocarbon production at its key Tupi oilfield will peak in 10-15 years, Chief Executive Sergio Gabrielli said Monday.

Peak production at Tupi will “very likely” be over 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent – or BOE – a day at that point, Gabrielli told Dow Jones Newswires during an interview on the sidelines of the industry’s World Energy Congress here.

He added that it’s too early to provide a more precise estimate.

Last week, Petrobras said it estimates the recoverable volume of oil and gas at the ultra-deep Santos Basin Tupi field at between 5 billion and 8 billion BOE.

That makes Tupi one of the biggest oil discoveries in years outside of countries belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, comparable in size to the Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan.
(12 November 2007)

M. King Hubbert and his successors: A half-bibliography through 2005 (1.14-MB PDF)
Chris Kuykendall, Tribute to M. King Hubbert website
This document is referred to as a half-bibliography because it is limited deliberately, with few exceptions, to entries in support of the thesis of an oil peak formulated by M . King Hubbert and extended by his successors. Alternatively, it is referred to as a half-bibliography because it is limited principally to entries
relating to the problem and not solutions to the problem.

… Inclusion in this document does not vouch for the accuracy of all the listed items. As the issue of peak oil gains increasing currency, more and more commentaries on the topic have been written by authors who are relatively new to the issue and can sometimes garble matters. More egregious examples of such garbling have been omitted from the list.
(8 March 2006)
Ran across this 150-page list of peak oil information while researching an article by M.K. Hubbert. Many links are included. -BA