The idea of ‘Peak Oil‘ is pretty simple: there is a limited amount of oil in the ground and there will be the day when we will see a decline in production (sucking it out). Have we already reached that point? The Guardian thinks so.
Almost all big countries have been lying about their reserves - and we can’t be sure how many big fields are still undiscovered (but it can’t be that many and none as big as those in Saudi Arabia).
But there is also another factor: once an oilfield is seriously depleted it will yield less and less black gold. The pressure drops and therefore production. Pumping salt water down helps a bit.
So we already reached a point where production is less than demand. So no surprise prices are up and up and up. At the moment we are at $80 a barrel - but a $100 or more is pretty realistic in the near future. Especially if President Shrub bombs Iran.
