Changing our habits could ease peak oil problems

Only a year or two ago, we were told that if crude oil reached $40 per barrel, the country would face economic difficulties. By April 12 crude oil futures were just a few cents short of $70 per barrel. Oil has been in the range of $60 per barrel for a long time now; its cost appears to be rising inexorably.

What’s going on? Some say that unrest in Nigeria, where that country’s output of oil has been cut by some 500,000 barrels per day, is the cause. (Nigeria is one of this country’s primary sources of non-Mid-East oil.) However, Mexico, another so far friendly source of our supply, has recently reported that its giant oil field, Cantarell, has reached peak production. That is, the field has reached the point where it cannot produce as much oil as it could in the past because it is running out of oil extracted by conventional means.

Mexico’s problem is not limited to Mexico. Here in the United States, once by far the world’s leading producer of crude oil, we reached peak production back in 1970, some 36 years ago. Production in the lower 48 states has declined ever since. One of the results of that increasing, now precipitous, decline in U.S. production is our exploding dependence on foreign oil.

When asked why he robbed banks, a famous bank robber is alleged to have said, “Because that’s where the money is.” Why are we in Iraq? Why are we building military bases in the various “stans” of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, etc.)? Why is Hugo Chavez of Venezuela becoming so important to our leaders in Washington? Because that’s where the oil is.

South Bend Tribune (Indiana)