Another blow to Peak Oil

[pscot]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-oil-production-to-rise-the-most-in-39-years-2009-11-27

" This year's U.S. crude oil production is on track to show its biggest year-on-year jump since 1970, an analysis of historical data by Platts showed Friday. If the 5.268 million barrels a day of average production level, recorded in the first ten months of the year, holds through December, this year's output will rise 6.4% from 2008, the Platts analysis of Energy Information Administration data showed. This year's production level will be the highest since 2004, when output averaged 5.419 million barrels a day. Peak oil production was recorded in 1970, when the U.S. produced 9.637 million barrels of oil."

The comments are a laugh riot. N.B., the U.S. consumes approximately 21 million barrels of oil every day.

[bbinacan]

1. Interesting. n/t

[Tesha]

2. I'm unclear on your point.

Given that "Peak Oil" speaks to the question of how much new oil is
discovered versus how much oil is produced, what do you think is
being proven simply by citing high production numbers? How much
oil the oil companies decide to pump out of the ground during any
given year has very little to do with the question of whether the
age of cheap oil has passed.

Tesha

[pscot]

4. Yes

I know that. You know that. The headline reflected the tone of many of the comments generated by the story. It was meant as an ironic juxtaposition. This rsponse is meta-irony. I should know better. I'm afraid I'm just incorrigible, but it's a way of staying sane in a world that no longer makes any sense.

[Speck Tater]

3. Rise in US production doesn't cover the DROP in worldwide production.

Cantarell in Mexico is in terminal collapse, and many of the world's largest fields are in decline. Yes, it's nice that US production has temporarily picked up by more intensive extraction, but there have not been any significant new discoveries, and intensive extraction only increases the rate depletion in the long run, exhausting the remaining well faster.

[bhikkhu]

5. If I weren't broke, I'd go buy a Hummer

I did read a little about an increase (predicted by the EIA), but no good info on the source of it. New Gulf of Mexico projects coming online?