Critic: Facts bury theory on Peak Oil

IHS Inc., owner of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, said those who espouse the theory that the world’s oil production has already peaked lack evidence to support their claims.

“The only thing that’s relevant is our data,” Jerre Stead, chief executive at Douglas County-based IHS, said Wednesday in an interview in Houston.
Believers in the so-called Peak Oil theory “don’t have our data,” he said.

Stead made his comments at an industry conference hosted by Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

U.S. oil futures jumped 57 percent last year on the way to topping $100 a barrel for the first time in January. Crude has traded between $86 and $95 this month.

Peak Oil supporters include billionaire hedge-fund manager Boone Pickens and Houston investment banker Matthew Simmons. Stead said some supporters of Peak Oil are interested in being consultants.

IHS is standing by the facts, he said.

“The Peak Oil discussion is useful in terms of trying to enlighten or shine a light on the discussion about where are the reserves today and what’s the production capacity from them,” Ron Mobed, IHS’s co-president, said Tuesday in an interview.

Denver Post