Growing chorus says oil has peaked

DALLAS, TEXAS // Jim Baldauf, a former oilman, remembers the days when it seemed like you could punch a hole in the ground just about anywhere in Texas and hit a gusher.

Now explorers in the southern US state of Texas find themselves drilling down further, and then turning horizontally for a while, and then back down again before they hit black gold. And with every passing year, the task of finding oil becomes more and more complex.