10.11.2008 London: "World oil production peaked in 2006"
Peak Oil could trigger meltdown of society
According
to a newly published global oil supply report to be presented by the
Energy Watch Group at the Foreign Press Association in London, world
oil production peaked in 2006. Production will start to decline at a
rate of several percent per year. By 2020, and even more by 2030,
global oil supply will be dramatically lower. This will create a supply
gap which can hardly be closed by growing contributions from other
fossil, nuclear or alternative energy sources in this time frame.
"The
most alarming finding is the steep decline of the oil supply after
peak", warns Jörg Schindler from the Energy Watch Group. This result,
together with the timing of the peak, is obviously in sharp contrast to
the projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA). "Since crude
oil is the most important energy carrier at a global scale and since
all kinds of transport rely heavily on oil, the future oil availability
is of paramount importance as it entails completely different actions
by politics, business and individuals.", says Schindler.
This
cautious energy outlook corresponds with statements made by former US
Defense Secretary and CIA Director, James Schlesinger, who said at a
recent oil summit in Cork: "The battle is over, the oil peakists have
won. Current US energy policy and the administration's oil strategy in
Iraq and Iran are deluded."
However, until recently the
International Energy Agency denied that a fundamental change of energy
supply is likely to happen in the near or medium term future.
Hans-Josef Fell MP, a prominent member of the German Parliament, is
clear: "The message by the IEA, namely that business as usual will also
be possible in future, sends a diffusing signal to the markets and
blocks investments in already available renewable energy technologies.
Remaining
world oil reserves are estimated to be 1,255 Gb (Giga barrel) according
to the industry database HIS (2006). For the Energy Watch Group (EWG),
however, there are sound reasons to modify these figures for some
regions and key countries, leading to a corresponding EWG estimate of
854 Gb. This oil supply outlook does not rely primarily on
Press
release reserve data which in the past have frequently turned out to be
unreliable. Hence the EWG analysis is based primarily on production
data which can be observed more easily and which are more reliable.
Peak
oil is now. "The oil boom is over and will not return. All of us must
get used to a different lifestyle.", said King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia, the largest global oil producer. For quite some time, a hot
debate has been going on regarding peak oil. Institutions close to the
energy industry, like CERA, are engaging in a campaign trying to debunk
peak oil as a "theory". However, the EWG report shows that peak oil is
real. The world is at the beginning of a structural change of its
economic system. This change will be triggered by a sharp decline of
fossil fuel supplies and will influence almost all aspects of daily
life. Climate change will also force mankind to change energy
consumption patterns by significantly reducing the burning of fossil
fuels.
Anticipated supply shortages could easily lead to
disturbing scenes of mass unrest as witnessed in Burma this month. For
government, industry and the wider public just muddling through is not
an option anymore as this situation could spin out of control and turn
into a meltdown of society.