Of course, Hubbert couldn’t predict the oil booms of 1973 and 1979 or the forced conservation that temporarily reduced consumption growth. He was also unable to predict the advent of new technologies like horizontal drilling and fracking, which changed the paradigm of oil and gas exploration and production, giving us access to new sources of oil.
Those technologies revolutionized oil drilling for previously unknown oil fields.
But as for conventional reservoirs, Hubbert was close to the mark.
Much of conventional world oil production has passed its peak production and is in permanent decline…
Even horizontal drilling and fracking in the United States cannot reverse the eventual decline in oil production and deliverability. The production boom we saw from these technologies won’t last forever because, again, with every barrel we extract, that’s one less barrel in the ground . Oil doesn’t regenerate .
47
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker