[HM2Viking]

In short, the system has reached its limit. Today's oil use outpaces new oil discoveries, with the world using about 12 billion more barrels per year than it finds.8 The growing imbalance between supply and demand means record high crude prices and the threat of more skyrocketing costs caused by even mild supply disruptions.
The only real solution is to reduce our demand for oil and therefore the economic and security risks of dependence on imports. It starts with increasing the efficiency of our cars and trucks, and developing more renewable sources of energy. Using technology available right now, America can save 2.5 million barrels of oil each day. Solutions range from better tires to cutting edge hybrid technology.
We've done it before: Passenger car and light truck fuel efficiency increased 70 percent between 1975, when the fuel economy law was originally enacted, and its peak in 1987. Since then we've been moving backward. Overall mileage of our new cars and trucks has steadily dropped. Today it's at its lowest level in 20 years.

at http://www.nrdc.org/air/transportation/aoilpolicy2.asp

Defeating our oil addiction.

Innovation can save 2.5 BN barrels per day.

[CHATSDALE]

those who say it will take 10 years to bring drilled oil to the pump and that then it will only decrease but about 5 cents..while saying that put your thumb and index finger almost together - they are lying
we can get results much sooner and if we are getting domestic oil then
we will be able to determine a price that has nothing to do with opec
there should be a government cap on the amount of income that the oil executives are bringing home like 50 million a year and 115 million golden umbrella at retirement, when you can write your own salary and retirement fund you tend to be a little generous and the guys on the platform retire with social security

[HM2Viking]

In fact, we simply cannot drill our way out of this problem (Figure 1). The U.S. has just three percent of know oil reserves; even drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would increase those reserves by less than one-third of one percent. Meanwhile, even OPEC is quickly exhausting excess production capacity according to the Federal Reserve. Looking beyond OPEC offers no comfort. Investment in new production capacity continues to lag in non-OPEC countries, limiting any near-term growth in output.7

at http://www.nrdc.org/air/transportation/aoilpolicy2.asp

We can't drill our way out of this problem. The oil companies are only drilling about 17% of their already approved domestic leases. I don't pretend to know the reasons for their failure to aggressively drill in areas that they have already leased. I do think that Congress needs to pull them on the carpet and hold them accountable.

[HM2Viking]

This should give us all pause:

Among the countries where production may be peaking are Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and China. The big question is Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials claim they can produce far more oil, but the giant Ghawar oil field—the world’s largest by far and the one that has supplied half of Saudi oil output for decades—is 56 years old and in its declining years. Saudi oil production data for the first eight months of 2007 show output of 8.62 mb/d, a drop of 6 percent from the 9.15 mb/d of 2006. If Saudi Arabia cannot restore growth in its oil production, then peak oil is on our doorstep.

In Mexico, the second-ranking supplier to the United States after Canada, output apparently peaked in 2004 at 3.4 mb/d. U.S. geologist Walter Youngquist notes that Cantarell, the country’s dominant oil field, is now in steep decline, and that Mexico could be an oil importer by 2015. Production in China, slightly higher than in Mexico, may also be about to peak.

at http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2007/Update67.htm

Mexico has peaked its oil production. The clock is ticking on their ability/willingness to export to the US after 2015.

The Saudi fields are in decline. North Sea oil is in decline. It is far better for us to work on cutting our domestic demand by 2.5 million barrels/day.

[HM2Viking]

http://www.nrdc.org/air/transportati...lpolicy2_3.gif


Rising demand + Decreasing production=rising prices.