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Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

General discussions of the systemic, societal and civilisational effects of depletion.

Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby JohnDenver » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 06:25:48

At the moment, EIA stats indicate that peak oil is not a future event, and in fact occurred roughly 2.5 years ago in May 2005. The peak value was 74.3mbd, and the most recent value (for Aug. 2007) was 72.5mbd -- down by 1.8mbd or 2.5% from the peak:
Image
Considering that this message board is called peakoil.com, and is inhabited by peakoilers, and we've all been told that peak oil will be TEOTWAWKI , it seems a little odd that nobody is talking about the actual event of "global peak oil".

Thus, this thread. Let's talk about how peak oil came and went, and was basically a non-event which hasn't even caused a recession.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby jbrovont » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 06:48:55

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'A')t the moment, EIA stats indicate that peak oil is not a future event, and in fact occurred roughly 2.5 years ago in May 2005. The peak value was 74.3mbd, and the most recent value (for Aug. 2007) was 72.5mbd -- down by 1.8mbd or 2.5% from the peak:
Image
Considering that this message board is called peakoil.com, and is inhabited by peakoilers, and we've all been told that peak oil will be TEOTWAWKI , it seems a little odd that nobody is talking about the actual event of "global peak oil".

Thus, this thread. Let's talk about how peak oil came and went, and was basically a non-event which hasn't even caused a recession.


It seems that we are starting to feel the effects though - maybe not as accutely as some thought, but the price of oil is definitely spiking, and recession is setting in. Oil reserves are being drawn down. I'm not sure if we've hit "peak liquids" - I'm sure someone else will weigh in on that, but to me it just looks like it's taking a little while for the effects to set in.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby TheDude » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 06:56:41

Image
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby Concerned » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 07:56:05

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '
')Thus, this thread. Let's talk about how peak oil came and went, and was basically a non-event which hasn't even caused a recession.


This is the usual quality nonsense expected from you JD.

Firstly Peak Oil is not "running out" it's not like turning a tap on or off, remember End of Suburbia. It's not an instant event you know J Kunstler calls it "The Long Emergency"

If peak happened in 2005 then we are on a plateau.

There are many scenarios from hard landing to soft landing. Long term it will be TEOTWAWKI that time frame may be 10 years it could be 20.

We are still waiting for your techno fixes, space elevators and unlimited nano solar, cold fusion <insert favorite energy delusion>

What were oil prices 4 years ago? 2 years ago? Last year? Whats your guess for next year at this time?

Stay tuned JD the pot is just beginning to simmer :twisted:
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby JohnDenver » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 08:14:48

Bringing over the discussion from Pops' Pearl Harbor Thread:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TonyPrep', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TonyPrep', 'S')ignificant though that peak (in May 2005) was, you probably well know that all liquids production continued to grow and, according to the IEA, may have reached a new high in October 2007 (this year).

Yes, I am aware of that. However, that just goes to show that alternatives like tar sands and NGL can scale up and compensate for peak oil -- something which was said to be impossible by the peak oilers.
You write as though that's the final word. Unconventional and stocks have "scaled up" for the last couple of years, so they can continue to substitute for the decline in crude oil, and raise overall production for ever. Do you honestly think that?

Of course I don't think they can raise overall production forever. But there's no need for them to do that. You are pointlessly exaggerating the need for liquid fuel. There is no need for endless supplies of gasoline etc. In fact, we don't even need most of what we are using now. You could easily lop off 5mbd of U.S. oil consumption simply by people riding scooters/mopeds and carpooling. And that's with no loss of functionality whatsoever. The greatest users of oil are private automobiles, and most private auto use is optional/lifestyle-related, not necessary. So the inability to continually increase liquids production is not a problem. We have more than enough fuel to get everyone/everything from point A to point B. Do you disagree?

All liquids really need to do is hang in there long enough to allow further shifting to electric cars/scooters/bikes, electric trucks, electrified rail etc. That should be feasible because EVs are taking off right now, and Laherrere (of ASPO) predicts peak liquids for 2020.

Laherrere: "I have access to several technical databases.
Liquids production will significantly decline after a likely bumpy plateau 2010-2020 and likely chaotic oil prices.
30 years from now, production of easy oil will be 35% less than to day but production of all liquids (including from coal and biomass) only 5% less than to day."
Source (pdf)

There will also be significant shifting to NG as a transportation fuel because NG supplies outside of North America remain plentiful and are not peaking.

When liquids peak, these alternatives (EVs and NG powered vehicles) will compensate for the decline, just as liquids are compensating for oil right now.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TonyPrep', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'R')emember, the peak oiler claim has always been that *oil* is special and cannot be substituted with alternatives. That's why peak oil is so scary. The idea that liquids would smoothly substitute for oil has always been the cornucopian position.
And still is. Some of the unconventionals, as I understand NGLs, are an artifact of declining conventional reservoirs.

NGLs are a by-product of gas production, and are increasing because gas hasn't peaked yet. Laherrere expects gas to peak around 2025, almost 20 years from now:
Image

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TonyPrep', 'O')thers take far more energy to produce than conventional. I don't understand why you think this should not be a concern.

It's not a reason for concern because it is not causing any serious harm.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TonyPrep', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'S')o the POers can switch to liquids to salvage the peak oil theory, but we'll have to label that for what it is: a big fat backpedal, and an admission that the cornucopians were right. Oil isn't so special.But the unconventionals is oil. If not, what is it?
Well, most of it is NGL, which is natural gas. The other part is bitumen, heavy oils, ethanol etc. You can call all that stuff oil, but it's going to really muck things up for you.

For example, remember this graph?
Image

This is what it looks like if we call Venezuelan heavy oil and the Alberta tar sand "oil":
Image
That little smudge down at the bottom is the original graph, shown above. I had to drastically reduce it to make the size of the diagram manageable.

So, noting the fun I can have with that super-scary "Growing Gap" discovery curve, what do you think, Tony?
Are tar sands oil? Is natural gas oil? Is coal oil?

(edit: typo)
Last edited by JohnDenver on Mon 10 Dec 2007, 09:15:18, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby JohnDenver » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 08:20:13

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', '[')url=http://imageshack.us]Image[/url]

Yes, shamelessly attempting to discuss peak oil at peakoil.com. The very definition of trolling.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby JohnDenver » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 08:34:16

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Concerned', 'W')e are still waiting for your techno fixes, space elevators and unlimited nano solar, cold fusion <insert favorite energy delusion>

Long term, they'll be there. That's not the solution to PO, though. The solution to peak oil is... the moped, and the teeny-tiny EV:
Image

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat were oil prices 4 years ago? 2 years ago? Last year? Whats your guess for next year at this time?

Who cares? I don't drive.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby Micki » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 09:19:13

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou could easily lop off 5mbd of U.S. oil consumption simply by people riding scooters/mopeds and carpooling. And that's with no loss of functionality whatsoever.


The mistake here is to think this could happen now and we would significantly drop the consumption and oil would be abundantly avaialble for longer. (Well technically it could. It just won't.)

The reality is that oil consumption continues at maximum levels until people are forced to drop. So when you see people moving from cars to scooters is when they no longer can afford driving cars.
That is also the time when car manufacturers close down, airlines go bust, holiday business close shop and department stores are empty of customers.
All along the way oil price will be relatively speaking bobbing up and down (compared short term) as demand drops or picks up. What is important however is the trend.

This is also why it is crazy to say you don't care what oil price is just because you don't drive.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby kpeavey » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 09:47:24

JohnDenver serves a particularly useful function here on Peakoil.com. His continued resistance to the notion of Peak Oil helps to prevent us from deluding ourselves.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby JohnDenver » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 10:00:21

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Micki', 'T')he reality is that oil consumption continues at maximum levels until people are forced to drop. So when you see people moving from cars to scooters is when they no longer can afford driving cars.


So you don't believe that somebody who is spending a lot of money on gas every month might get tempted by a scooter? You know, they see an ad, or hear about it from a friend, that these mopeds get 100 miles/gallon, versus their current 20mpg. And they go home and work it out. It turns out that they can actually save about $US 4.50 an hour by driving a moped. It's like working a second job, where you earn an extra $4.50 for every hour you drive. Would you drive a moped for a tax-free $4.50 an hour? I would. If I was a low wage guy in America right now with gas at $3.50, I could definitely be tempted by a nice moped. Especially with a good ad campaign that played up the money angle. A hot moped like this:
Image
You don't think that a certain percentage of people might give in and purchase a scooter, without being forced but by being tempted, by the money?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hat is also the time when car manufacturers close down, airlines go bust, holiday business close shop and department stores are empty of customers.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby Heineken » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:03:11

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'W')ho cares? I don't drive.


This explains perfectly your entire stance on the PO subject.

If you drove, you might have some inkling about how the US operates.

Any time I drive anywhere, I am thunderstruck by the utter dependence of the whole goddamn thing on giant vehicles, especially trucks.

The North American infrastructure and supply systems are simply not convertible to mopeds and tricycles. Not without a change as big as the industrial revolution IN REVERSE.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby Heineken » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:04:50

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'W')ho cares? I don't drive.


This explains perfectly your entire stance on the PO subject.

If you drove, you might have some inkling about how the US operates.

Any time I drive anywhere, I am thunderstruck by the utter dependence of the whole goddamn thing on giant oil-guzzling vehicles, especially trucks.

The North American infrastructure and supply systems are simply not convertible to mopeds and tricycles. Not without a change as big as the industrial revolution IN REVERSE.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby vision-master » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:36:51

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Micki', 'T')he reality is that oil consumption continues at maximum levels until people are forced to drop. So when you see people moving from cars to scooters is when they no longer can afford driving cars.


So you don't believe that somebody who is spending a lot of money on gas every month might get tempted by a scooter? You know, they see an ad, or hear about it from a friend, that these mopeds get 100 miles/gallon, versus their current 20mpg. And they go home and work it out. It turns out that they can actually save about $US 4.50 an hour by driving a moped. It's like working a second job, where you earn an extra $4.50 for every hour you drive. Would you drive a moped for a tax-free $4.50 an hour? I would. If I was a low wage guy in America right now with gas at $3.50, I could definitely be tempted by a nice moped. Especially with a good ad campaign that played up the money angle. A hot moped like this:
Image
You don't think that a certain percentage of people might give in and purchase a scooter, without being forced but by being tempted, by the money?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hat is also the time when car manufacturers close down, airlines go bust, holiday business close shop and department stores are empty of customers.


A foot of snow and -10. So much for the scooter.......... :razz:
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby KillTheHumans » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:37:59

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', 'A')t the moment, EIA stats indicate that peak oil is not a future event, and in fact occurred roughly 2.5 years ago in May 2005. The peak value was 74.3mbd, and the most recent value (for Aug. 2007) was 72.5mbd -- down by 1.8mbd or 2.5% from the peak:
Image
Considering that this message board is called peakoil.com, and is inhabited by peakoilers, and we've all been told that peak oil will be TEOTWAWKI , it seems a little odd that nobody is talking about the actual event of "global peak oil".

Thus, this thread. Let's talk about how peak oil came and went, and was basically a non-event which hasn't even caused a recession.


Others have been asking the same question for quite awhile now. You would think a couple years in people should at least be a little ticked off at the shortages, Hummers would no longer be sold, road traffic would be down, the SPR would be tapped, SOMETHING would be noticed by the average American.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby dinopello » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:58:06

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnDenver', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Micki', 'T')he reality is that oil consumption continues at maximum levels until people are forced to drop. So when you see people moving from cars to scooters is when they no longer can afford driving cars.


So you don't believe that somebody who is spending a lot of money on gas every month might get tempted by a scooter?


Scooter dealers have been springing up on every undeveloped lot around here. I think they are doing a good business. There are lots of bikes too. I think the majority are buying scooters because of a sense of being eco-friendly more than the money and it tends to be people who live and work in the DC/Arlington/Alexandria area - a fairly compact area. The commuters that come in from 50 miles out (and there's a lot of them) are not going to go to scooters. That isn;t to say they are not adjusting. There have always been carpools, and commuter rail but I see more and more vanpools that look like quasi-bus services with hand-made signs on the side with a phone number saying "ask about a ride" and then a city like Woodbridge, or Centerville (exurban locations). The HOVlanes are making these more popular as well - people do it to save time as much as money.

Anyway, the point is that people will do more and more of this as it is natural to want to save money. It may indeed be a slow fizzle as people's exurban drive everywhere utopia and consumer lifestyle fizzles away. Then what will they be left with ? And then what will they do ?
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby PhebaAndThePilgrim » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 12:27:27

Good day from Pheba, from the farm:
I usually don't get involved in these arguments. I don't even know what a troll is. I am assuming a troll is a s**t disturber on a forum or chat line.
But, I'm bored today. Ice storms have most folks here in mid-Mo cabin bound. I am fortunate that we heat with wood, and that our electric is not off. My daughter has 3 kids, no heat and no phone. She is staying with her in-laws who heat with wood. I am staying up on the 2nd floor near the computer to keep an eye on my husband. he is on the roof of the barn trying to scrape the ice off before the roof collapses from the weight. Yesterday he did the North roof, which is nearly flat. today he is doing the south side that slopes, and is facing the house, so I am watching him closely. I think the man is crazy sometimes. Okay JD, what makes you think the world is going to unfold on your time schedule? Peak Oil is not an immediate event. This society has become so used to events unfolding right now that thinking long term has become impossible.
I have completely shut up about peak oil. I don't mention it to anybody here in the buckle of the Bible belt, redneck, poor white trash, uneducated worker drone part of our wonderful state of Missouri. People I come in contact with are incapable of thinking past the end of the week. Nevermind thinking about events that unfold slowly. Global warming, peak oil; these are concepts that these poor fools can not wrap their minds around because the media's main goal is to condition our minds to think short term.
I have read the theory that our minds are not capable of thinking long term because of our fight/flight response, etc. that's just bulls**t . Many native American tribes were capable of such thought. Most indiginous people are capable of such thought.
We have just been brainwashed by mother culture from the time we are born to accept what we are told.
Peak Oil is unfolding. And if you don't think it is having an impact just go volunteer once a week at a food bank like I do. I have said it before and I will say it again. Peak oil will impact from the bottom up, not from the stock market down. I see it every day.
While it is true that you don't drive, I am going to assume that you do eat. You think we can all just go back to cute little Victory gardens and feed 300 million people, think again.
My husband and I are farmers. The impact of Peak Oil and the scam of ethanol has been disastrous on cattle farmers.
Listening to Traffic and Pink Floyd and feeling feisty today, so there JD. Just checked on hubby and he is not in a crumpled hump at the base of the barn so all is well here in mid-Mo.
Pheba, from the farm.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby Pops » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 17:03:22

Actually, the effect of the slight rise in energy cost recently can be readily seen in each handful of advertisements of early Christmas sales at every trip to the mailbox should one care to consider (or argue) something less than Overnight Armageddon.

Petroleum-based energy costs increased at a 20.6 percent annual rate
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm


A 20.6% increase in energy cost over the last 12 months ending Oct ’07 hardly seems inconsequential, JD.

And of course the graph first posted hardly takes in the entire picture - but that is par for this particular brand of propaganda I suppose.

At some point when the graph of total liquids looks like the one posted, I’ll guess a 20.6%/year increase will seem like the good old days.


P.S. Pheobe, down here in SW MO we have ice too but thankfully not like in Jan.! Our daughter had big winds and the power was out for 4 days – she lives in Hawaii!!!
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby TheDude » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 18:03:58

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ho cares? I don't drive.


Tell that to these people:

Image

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')n Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who intentionally posts controversial or contrary messages in an on-line community such as an on-line discussion forum or group with the singular intention of baiting users into an argumentative response.


Mopeds aren't an option for those drivers - too slow to ride the freeways. You know that. Not that the average speed on them is any faster than what they could do. Or that people can't use them for getting around locally. But!

I'm also in favor of addressing the demand side of declining fuels - more on your side than not. But your habit of laughing off the difficulties involved is more than a little obnoxious.

Instead of all this poke-in-the-eye foofaraw why don't you start up posts on something productive?

Laherrere predicts peaks later than most analysts, too.

Image

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')here will also be significant shifting to NG as a transportation fuel because NG supplies outside of North America remain plentiful and are not peaking.


Chris Skrewbowski on the dramatic shortage of new LNG mega projects

NG isn't used much as a vehicle fuel in NA, too. Or Japan.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')orldwide, there are roughly 5 million NGVs as of 2006, with the largest number of NGVs in Argentina, Brazil, India, Pakistan and Italy. They are also popular in Germany.


Honda has their Phill vehicle which taps into domestic NG lines, a good idea if we had more of the stuff to play with.

Like Pheba says you need to think on longer time scales than the next minute or two. And people like her are right to be angry about being squeezed out of making a living by this mess.
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby TonyPrep » Mon 10 Dec 2007, 20:50:21

JD, many peak oil predictors are still looking at around 2010/2012 for a peak in all liquids. Tar sands production hasn't expanded much to fill in for declining crude, so you're wrong to say that it can scale to any significant degree; Canadian tar sands production is not expected to rise much above 3 mbpd, with optimists talking of 5 mbpd, tops. And that is in about a decade.

As I understand it, NGLs have increased as a byproduct of increasing gas caps in declining oil fields, rather than as some byproduct of natural gas production (which is gas, not liquid). So overall production from oil fields may be kept at a plateau for a little longer than convential crude production would suggest.

Electric vehicles are in their infancy and there certainly won't be enough to satisfy a worldwide demand of 800 million vehicles, and growing, for a very long time yet.

Although you're right that people can switch modes of transport, it can't and won't be done quickly because there aren't enough alternatives around and because people are reluctant to switch. In addition, fewer cars means fewer jobs, more efficient cars means fewer jobs, less miles means fewer jobs. The effects of a switch, if it is made, will still be bad.

Peak oil hasn't affected your country because it has been able to get the supplies it wants by outbidding others or drawing down stocks. The high prices have hit growth and inflation but not as much as they would have 30 years ago, because developed economies are much less energy intensive than they were then. As we're on a bumpy plateau, with, perhaps, a few higher peaks to come, I think it's way too early to say that peak oil is a non-event. Come back a couple of years after significant declines have set in and see where we're at.

By the way, yes I do put a lot of importance on liquid fuels because such fuels are 98% of our transport needs. Maybe alternatives can be found for some of those uses but there is no urgency, at the moment, and if declines accelerate to several percent per year, the alternatives won't be able to keep up. I also see no alternatives for air and sea travel (at least not on anywhere near the scale we have now).
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Re: Peak Oil: The Big Fizzle

Unread postby Dezakin » Tue 11 Dec 2007, 13:25:18

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TonyPrep', 'J')D, many peak oil predictors are still looking at around 2010/2012 for a peak in all liquids. Tar sands production hasn't expanded much to fill in for declining crude, so you're wrong to say that it can scale to any significant degree; Canadian tar sands production is not expected to rise much above 3 mbpd, with optimists talking of 5 mbpd, tops. And that is in about a decade.

Sure, there's lag time as big capital moves slowly. With declining conventional fields capital will move where the money is, and if we see steep declines in oil, more will move into the tar sands which can support more than 5 mbpd, but are unlikely to be that in demand with other alternatives around.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TonyPrep', 'A')s I understand it, NGLs have increased as a byproduct of increasing gas caps in declining oil fields, rather than as some byproduct of natural gas production (which is gas, not liquid). So overall production from oil fields may be kept at a plateau for a little longer than convential crude production would suggest.

There's also been a lot of advancement in onsite GTL, so...
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