The Other Side of the Peak–Oil Depletion Rates

In the growing discussion as to when Peak Oil will arrive, and what its effects will be, there is relatively little discussion as to what the back shape of the curve will look like. There are rough numbers thrown around, and many of the curves that are put up anticipate that, for initial modeling purposes, the depletion of oil in a field will mirror its original growth. In other words, production follows what is known as a Gaussian distribution, such as the picture that we have over on the right of this site. Depletion will start out relatively slowly and then accelerate, in the same shape to the right of the peak, as on the left.