Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Peak Oil: The Hidden Cost

Most of what you've heard about "peak oil" is wrong. In fact, there's a hidden cost to peak oil that's very real. And it's coming to a pump near you any day now.

I know you've read the same headlines that I have...how we are going to "frack" our way to energy independence by exploiting
shale oil and other unconventional sources.

But here's the thing. Nobody's talking about the high cost of getting the new oil out of the ground. But very soon, high extraction costs will kick
crude oil prices into high gear
.
Follow up:

What is Peak Oil: A Misunderstood Concept

First, let's take a look at what peak oil really refers to, because it means a lot more than most people realize. People think peak oil is all about the world running out of oil. But that's not true.

Actually, the theory is based on the fact that all oil fields have a production curve -- a peak and a decline. Simply put, peak oil refers to the point when
oil production peaks and begins to go downhill. Every single oil field on the planet goes through this cycle. There's only so much oil that we can get out of each field.

Just consider how U.S. oil discoveries peaked in the 1960s, and U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 at almost 10 million barrels a day
.

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