Intersting views about oil and it's peak production
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
QUOTE
"Is the Bush Administration Aware of Peak Oil?"
Yes.
In late 1999, Dick Cheney stated:
By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent annual
growth in global oil demand over the years ahead, along with,
conservatively, a three-percent natural decline in production from
existing reserves. That means by 2010 we will need on the order of an
additional 50 million barrels a day.
To put Cheney’s statement in perspective, remember that the oil producing nations of the world are currently pumping at full capacity but are unable to produce much more than 80 million barrels per day. Cheney’s statement was a tacit admission of the severity and imminence of Peak Oil as the possibility of the world raising its production by such a huge amount is borderline ridiculous.
A report commissioned by Cheney and released in April 2001 was no less disturbing:
The most significant difference between now and a decade ago is the
extraordinarily rapid erosion of spare capacities at critical segments of
energy chains. Today, shortfalls appear to be endemic. Among the
most extraordinary of these losses of spare capacity is in the oil arena.
Not surprisingly, George W. Bush has echoed Dick Cheney’s sentiments. In May 2001, Bush stated, “What people need to hear loud and clear is that we’re running out of energy in America.”
One of George W. Bush’s energy advisors, energy investment banker Matthew Simmons, has spoken at length about the impending crisis. Simmons is a self-described “lifelong Republican.” His investment bank, Simmons and Company International, is considered the most reputable and reliable energy investment bank in the world.
Given Simmons’ background, what he has to say about the situation is truly terrifying. For instance, in an August 2003 interview with From the Wilderness publisher Michael Ruppert, Simmons was asked if it was time for Peak Oil to become part of the public policy debate. He responded:
It is past time. As I have said, the experts and politicians have no Plan
B to fall back on. If energy peaks, particularly while 5 of the world’s 6.5
billion people have little or no use of modern energy, it will be a
tremendous jolt to our economic well-being and to our health — greater
than anyone could ever imagine.
When asked if there is a solution to the impending natural gas crisis, Simmons responded:
I don’t think there is one. The solution is to pray. Under the best of
circumstances, if all prayers are answered there will be no crisis for
maybe two years. After that it’s a certainty.
In May 2004, Simmons explained that in order for demand to be appropriately controlled, the price of oil would have to reach $182 per barrel. With oil prices at $182 per barrel, gas prices would likely rise to $7.00 per gallon.
If you want to ponder just how devastating oil prices in the $200 range will be for the US economy, consider the fact that one of Osama Bin-Laden’s goals has been to force oil prices into the $200 range.
A recent report prepared for the US Department of Energy has confirmed Mr. Simmons' dire warnings. Entitled "The Mitigation of the Peaking of World Oil Production," the report stated:
Without timely mitigation, world supply/demand balance will be achieved
through massive demand destruction (shortages), accompanied by huge
oil price increases, both of which would create a long period of
significant economic hardship worldwide.
Waiting until world conventional oil production peaks before initiating
crash program mitigation leaves the world with a significant liquid fuel
deficit for two decades or longer.
The report went on to say:
. . . the world has never faced a problem like this. Without massive
mitigation more than a decade before the fact, the problem will be
pervasive and will not be temporary. Previous energy transitions were
gradual and evolutionary. Oil peaking will be abrupt and revolutionary.
As one commentator recently pointed out, the reason our leaders are acting like desperados is because we have a desperate situation on our hands.
Yes.
In late 1999, Dick Cheney stated:
By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent annual
growth in global oil demand over the years ahead, along with,
conservatively, a three-percent natural decline in production from
existing reserves. That means by 2010 we will need on the order of an
additional 50 million barrels a day.
To put Cheney’s statement in perspective, remember that the oil producing nations of the world are currently pumping at full capacity but are unable to produce much more than 80 million barrels per day. Cheney’s statement was a tacit admission of the severity and imminence of Peak Oil as the possibility of the world raising its production by such a huge amount is borderline ridiculous.
A report commissioned by Cheney and released in April 2001 was no less disturbing:
The most significant difference between now and a decade ago is the
extraordinarily rapid erosion of spare capacities at critical segments of
energy chains. Today, shortfalls appear to be endemic. Among the
most extraordinary of these losses of spare capacity is in the oil arena.
Not surprisingly, George W. Bush has echoed Dick Cheney’s sentiments. In May 2001, Bush stated, “What people need to hear loud and clear is that we’re running out of energy in America.”
One of George W. Bush’s energy advisors, energy investment banker Matthew Simmons, has spoken at length about the impending crisis. Simmons is a self-described “lifelong Republican.” His investment bank, Simmons and Company International, is considered the most reputable and reliable energy investment bank in the world.
Given Simmons’ background, what he has to say about the situation is truly terrifying. For instance, in an August 2003 interview with From the Wilderness publisher Michael Ruppert, Simmons was asked if it was time for Peak Oil to become part of the public policy debate. He responded:
It is past time. As I have said, the experts and politicians have no Plan
B to fall back on. If energy peaks, particularly while 5 of the world’s 6.5
billion people have little or no use of modern energy, it will be a
tremendous jolt to our economic well-being and to our health — greater
than anyone could ever imagine.
When asked if there is a solution to the impending natural gas crisis, Simmons responded:
I don’t think there is one. The solution is to pray. Under the best of
circumstances, if all prayers are answered there will be no crisis for
maybe two years. After that it’s a certainty.
In May 2004, Simmons explained that in order for demand to be appropriately controlled, the price of oil would have to reach $182 per barrel. With oil prices at $182 per barrel, gas prices would likely rise to $7.00 per gallon.
If you want to ponder just how devastating oil prices in the $200 range will be for the US economy, consider the fact that one of Osama Bin-Laden’s goals has been to force oil prices into the $200 range.
A recent report prepared for the US Department of Energy has confirmed Mr. Simmons' dire warnings. Entitled "The Mitigation of the Peaking of World Oil Production," the report stated:
Without timely mitigation, world supply/demand balance will be achieved
through massive demand destruction (shortages), accompanied by huge
oil price increases, both of which would create a long period of
significant economic hardship worldwide.
Waiting until world conventional oil production peaks before initiating
crash program mitigation leaves the world with a significant liquid fuel
deficit for two decades or longer.
The report went on to say:
. . . the world has never faced a problem like this. Without massive
mitigation more than a decade before the fact, the problem will be
pervasive and will not be temporary. Previous energy transitions were
gradual and evolutionary. Oil peaking will be abrupt and revolutionary.
As one commentator recently pointed out, the reason our leaders are acting like desperados is because we have a desperate situation on our hands.