The Truth about Oil, Part 3

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s special report, the world will face “peak oil” by 2015. But many of the world’s best informed professionals think the end is much closer than that. Some, like Matthew Simmons, think that it has already passed as far back as 25 years ago. And their reasoning is disconcertingly solid.

Over in the Middle East the oil fields are already using water-flooding, a version of advanced oil recovery, to get out what oil they have left. That is a major sign that they have passed their peak of easily extractable oil.

This is especially true in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis have over 300 recognized oil reservoirs. But 90% of the country’s oil production comes from only five fields discovered between 1940 and 1965. They are: