Oil Crisis 101

"The total amount of regular oil produced in the world up to and including 2002 is 891Gb [52%]. The total amount discovered is 1713Gb, which leaves the world with total reserves of regular oil of 822Gb [48%]." Uppsala Hydrocarbon Study Group

"Once that happens, getting at the remaining oil becomes increasingly difficult and expensive. For an economy still reliant on fossil fuels, the effects would be catastrophic." commondreams.org, April 2, 2004

RESEARCH LINKS
(in random order)

Oil Depletion Analysis Centre "Educational charity working to raise international public awareness and promote better understanding of the world's oil-depletion problem."

Hubbert Curve (the study that started it all...)
"Named after the late Dr. M. King Hubbert, Geophysicist, this website provides data, analysis and recommendations regarding the upcoming peak in the rate of global oil extraction."

Oil & Gas Journal (surprisingly objective oil-industry news)

World Oil Reserves Listed by Country (excellent compilation)

oilcrisis.com
(many links to research, and the source of most of the links on this page)

peakoil.net
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas

World Resources Institute
"Peaking could occur as early as 2007...not as a result of an OPEC decision, but of an inability of producers to continue expanding production of what is, ultimately, a finite resource."

Laherrere's Technical Report: Estimates of Oil Reserves (pdf)
"Pessimists: mainly retired geologists or retired CEO technical data; Optimists: mainly economists or governmental agencies, political or financial data."

American Petroleum Institute links and resources (very good industry source)

Uppsala Hydrocarbon Depletion Study Group
"The total amount of regular oil produced in the world up to and including 2002 is 891Gb. The total amount discovered is 1713Gb, which leaves the world with total reserves of regular oil of 822Gb."

Environmental Literacy Council
(compilation of most-influential studies)

Oil Reserves & Production Facts
(lots of data from about.com)

GRAPHS
(Clickable.)

Scientific American, March, 1998

CNN, Oct. 2 New Scientist, Oct. 3

HUBBERT CURVE

"This graph (often referred to as the "Hubbert Curve,") is based on an Ultimate Recovery of conventional oil of 1750 Gb (Giga = Billion barrels), and depicts alternative scenarios of production. The Swing Case assumes a price leap when the share of world production from a few Middle East countries reaches 30%. This is expected to curb demand, leading to a plateau of output until the Swing countries reach the midpoint of their depletion, when resource constraints force down output at the then depletion rate." The Twenty First Century, The World's Endowment of Conventional Oil and its Depletion, by Dr. Colin Campbell, 1996

"Americans throw away enough used motor oil every year to fill 120 supertankers. Used oil from a single oil change (approx. one gallon) can ruin a million gallons of fresh water - a year's supply for 50 people.
Used oil is insoluble, persistent, slow to degrade, sticks to everything from beach sand to bird feathers, and can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals that pose a health threat to humans, plants, and animals.
An estimated 200 million gallons of used motor oil is improperly disposed of each year in the U.S. by being dumped on the ground, tossed in the trash (ending up in landfills), and poured down storm sewers and drains. Recycling used oil would save the U.S. 1.3 million barrels of oil per day." epa.gov

Hubbert Curve
The Hubbert model assumes that if oil production is unrestrained in a very large producing region, it will follow a bell-shaped curve with peak production occurring when approximately 1/2 of the ultimately recoverable amount of oil is extracted.

Hydrocarbons and the Evolution of Culture
"What will be difficult to obtain is cheap petroleum, because what is left is an enormous amount of low-grade hydrocarbons, which are likely to be much more expensive financially, energetically, politically and especially environmentally."

Paris Peak Oil Conference Reveals Deepening Crisis
"May 30, 2003, PARIS – Research presented on May 26th and 27th at the French Institute for Petroleum (IFP) by a wide variety of experts from varying and often competitive perspectives disclosed that, in the year since the first conference of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO), supply constraints have worsened and the realities of energy depletion are becoming more apparent."!

"The peak in production of any nonrenewable resource is a very critical point. At that point, demand remains the same, but supply drops off. The first result is rapidly increasing prices." daviesand.com