Stephen Rees's blog

This issue has come up on here more than once. A story in Monday’s Guardian says it has already peaked

World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

The German-based Energy Watch Group will release its study in London today saying that global oil production peaked in 2006 – much earlier than most experts had expected. The report, which predicts that production will now fall by 7% a year, comes after oil prices set new records almost every day last week, on Friday hitting more than $90 (£44) a barrel.

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The results are in contrast to projections from the International Energy Agency, which says there is little reason to worry about oil supplies at the moment.

However, the EWG study relies more on actual oil production data which, it says, are more reliable than estimates of reserves still in the ground.

For Canada this is probably going to be painted as a good news story as at these prices “unconventional oil” like tar sands and oil shale look more economic to develop – though the impact of all the energy consumed in converting them into usable vehicle fuels is huge, as is the environmental impact. It is also likely to increase pressure for development of oil in sensitive areas like the coast of BC. It will also be a boost to alternative energy sources, and hopefully we will see some renewable resources included.