Rafael Reyes on Friday, 19 March 2010 22:31

Kuwait Oil Company: Peak oil in 2014

It's being debated as something sooner or later, but the number of voices saying it will be sooner are becoming increasingly mainstream. When Kuwait Oil Company says so we should take notice.

The scientists from Kuwait University and the Kuwait Oil Company adopted a newer approach by including many Hubbert production cycles, or bell-shaped curves showing the rise and fall of a non-recyclable resource. Earlier models typically assumed just one production cycle, despite the fact that most oil-producing nations have historically experienced more of a roller coaster ride in production.

Such production cycles reflect the influence of new technological innovations in the oil industry, government regulations, economic conditions and political events. The factors include the discovery of new oil deposits, the recent economic recession and the rise of renewable energy.

Take Mexico as just one example. The nation that has long represented a top oil exporter has experienced plummeting oil production and might even begin importing oil within the decade...

Some oil companies and consultancy firms such as Cambridge Energy Research Associates have speculated that oil will peak sometime after 2020, but a number of oil geologists and executives predict it will happen much sooner.

In 2008, UAE Energy Minister Mohamed Bin Dhaen Al Hamli stated, "It is common knowledge that the age of easy oil is gone forever."