U.S. Oil Wells Peaked in the 1970's

[ropor]

Many people have seen the latest reality TV show, fewer have seen the "An Inconvenient Truth", but how many people have seen the movie "Gas Hole"? For the past 30 years, U.S. presidents have admitted that our dependency on oil is a clear and present danger. The GAO and DOE conclude that there is no coordinated federal effort to find replaceable energy sources.

The Hirsch report entitled "Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, and Risk Management" was published in 2005 by the Dept. of Energy. "Peak oil" is when maximum oil production is reached and then continually declines afterward. In the U.S. peak oil was reached in the 1970's. Many other countries have already reached peak oil, and global peak oil is predicted to occur between 2010 and 2040. However, the insatiable demand for oil continues to increase as China, India and many third world countries develop.

The U.S. has a small fraction of the world's population, but uses almost one third of the current oil supply. The oil crises of the 1970's have taught us little about energy conservation. Today the mileage efficiency of American autos are one half that of German autos. The countries most vulnerable to peak oil are those with the greatest demand and those without alternative energy sources.

So here we are again at another presidential election. The federal government is essentially bankrupt, there is no coordinated federal effort to develop alternative energy, and the most expensive war in history continues -- for a 100 years? I would like to watch that reality TV show, but our tuner has been disconnected since 1985.

[LibertyOfOne]

Yeah it's a finite supply and we can only use so much before the price to extract it will be more than people will want to pay for it. I would have to disagree about the government doing something about it, because government can't do much of anything right. As the price gets higher more and more people will be forced to conserve and move towards alternatives.

[RSLudlum]

The federal government is essentially bankrupt, there is no coordinated federal effort to develop alternative energy, and the most expensive war in history continues -- for a 100 years? .

Sorry but I don't want the Federal Gov't putting any effort into developing alternative energy sources. Taxes on gasoline are high enough...what do you think the taxes on the government's newfound energy sources would be?? And would they force you to use those new technologies even if you weren't economically able to afford them?? I respectfully but strongly disagree with your assertion.

[Zippyjuan]

Should the biggest user of oil pay the highest prices to discourage them from using more?
If you accept this, then we have too low of oil prices. We consume signifcantly more oil than anybody else and yet we are in the lower half of the price we pay for it. Europe is almost double what we pay for gas. As a result, they have more invested in alternatives and lowering their levels of consumption. We seem to think that oil is unlimited and should be cheap. If prices go up, it is someone else's fault- not our own gluttonous consumption. Countries with lower gas prices than us tend to be the oil producing and exporting countries.
This list is from 2005 when we were paying around $3.00 or less a gallon.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lis...bal_gasprices/

[acptulsa]

Ah, yes. The Drumwright Field and the Glen Pool. I remember them well. Oil companies were selling oil for less than it cost them to get it out of the ground during the depression because of "too many straws in the same glass"--company x had mineral rights on this lot, company y had mineral rights on the next lot over, and they were both pumping out of the same supply below. It was a race. Gov. William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray tried to do an OPEC in the mid 'thirties and shut down the wells until the price went up enough that the oil companies weren't losing money. FDR wasn't amused and sent in the Army. Thus it was that Will Rogers said that America was the only nation in the history of the world to drive to the poorhouse in an automobile. And we wonder why our cars grew so fat and inefficient unlike anyone else's.

Then came the 'fifties and the car, oil and rubber companies conspired to destroy the trolley services. Then came the 'sixties, the moon shot, the glass house, the central air conditioner and the muscle car. Then came the 'seventies and the famed Drumwright Field and Glen Pool actually ran almost dry! Now there are merely puddles of oil around their edges...

Oil is a hard habit to break. Even now never mind the Suburbans and Hummers--consider the five mph bumper, the airbag, the side door guard beam--all ways we burn oil because we don't want to be bothered really learning how to drive. A 1963 Plymouth Fury wagon will alternately hold 4x8 sheets of plywood or nine passengers, yet it weighs only 3500 lbs. Its 3.7 liter six is pretty inefficient by today's standards, yet moves the car with some authority. Today? The minivan seats only seven yet requires upwards of four highly efficient liters because it weighs over two tons. Not that it doesn't use space age materials to save weight--it does--but because the federal government mandates that it be loaded with junk.

We could easily do better.

[ropor]

Sorry but I don't want the Federal Gov't putting any effort into developing alternative energy sources. Taxes on gasoline are high enough...what do you think the taxes on the government's newfound energy sources would be?? And would they force you to use those new technologies even if you weren't economically able to afford them?? I respectfully but strongly disagree with your assertion.

The point was that we knew about the peaking of the oil supply in 1956, just as we know about the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today. President Carter installed solar panels on the Whitehouse, Ronnie ripped them out.

It takes 10-20 years to bring alternative energy sources on-line. A new nuclear reactor would have to be commissioned every week starting today in order to meet the energy shortfall after global oil production peaks. The free market is able to balance the current supply and demand, but not the supply and demand forecasted for 10-20 years in the future.

[LibertyOfOne]

If you think government can fix this than there is a bridge in Alaska I would like to sell you. The market is self correcting.