Peak Oil is not about oil running out. It's about the end of cheap oil. Peaking is a reservoirâs maximum oil production rate, which typically occurs after roughly half of the recoverable oil in a reservoir has been produced. Most of the remaining reserve is hard to get - that makes it more expensive. It also means it takes more and more energy (and Money) to extract. That in turn means that it will become harder and harder to maintain flow rates (the number of barrels a day extracted). Unless reserves can be turned into flows, we have a big problem.
In many ways, what is likely to happen on a world scale is similar to what happens to individual reservoirs, because world
production is the sum total of production from many different reservoirs.
Because oil is usually found thousands of feet below the surface and because oil reservoirs normally do not have an obvious surface signature, oil is very difficult to find. Advancing technology has greatly improved the discovery process and reduced
exploration failures. Nevertheless, oil exploration is still inexact and VERY expensive. Once oil has been discovered via an exploratory well, full-scale production requires many more wells across the reservoir to provide multiple paths that facilitate the flow of oil to the surface. This multitude of wells also helps to define the total recoverable oil in a reservoir so-called âreserves.â
In many ways, what is likely to happen on a world scale is similar to what happens to individual reservoirs, because world
production is the sum total of production from many different reservoirs.
Because oil is usually found thousands of feet below the surface and because oil reservoirs normally do not have an obvious surface signature, oil is very difficult to find. Advancing technology has greatly improved the discovery process and reduced
exploration failures. Nevertheless, oil exploration is still inexact and VERY expensive. Once oil has been discovered via an exploratory well, full-scale production requires many more wells across the reservoir to provide multiple paths that facilitate the flow of oil to the surface. This multitude of wells also helps to define the total recoverable oil in a reservoir so-called âreserves.â
