longoil

The 'Peak Oil' Myth: New Oil Is Plentiful

There is no conspiracy with regards to oil prices.
==> Supply & Demand once again.
Here is the comments from a well known economist who has accurately predicated all oil increases in the last few years.

Jeff Rubin, CIBC (June 2008) "Neither speculation nor the value of the US dollar is material to the oil outlook. We estimate that accumulation of “paper” barrels of oil in the hands of speculators has been, at most, one-fifth of the increase in Chinese demand for actual barrels of oil over the last five years. And even if denominated in a trade-weighted basket of world currencies, the price of oil would still have risen to over US$100/bbl."

The 'Peak Oil' Myth: New Oil Is Plentiful

Jason,
For a peak oil denier, first let me give you credit for providing proper data and sources to support your argument.

Peak Oil is a term that is misused often.
I believe conventional oil (sweet crude) has peaked.
Non-conventional oil is a different story.

Conventional oil production has reached a peak recently.
The EIA data shows global production peaking and plateauing at 85 mbls/day in 2003/2004. Increased demand has increased oil prices 6 times as a consequence.

All the data you provided confirms conventional peak oil. Why would we go through 2 kms of ocean, 2 kms of unstable salt and another 2 km of hard rock to get oil from Tupi oil fields off the coast of Brazil, if easier alternatives exist ?

Same arguement for the oil sands, why mine oil sands, boil them in water and them dilute it with naptha, if easier alternatives exist ?
The extraction of oil from oil shale is possible (when oil > $100/bl), but is even more painful.

Deep Sea, Oil Sands and Gas-to-Liquids all confirm conventional peak oil, but also show with human ingenuity non-conventional peak oil can be pushed out for a while

If we ran out of deep sea oil, oil sands and oil shale as well, I am sure we can convert road asphalt, rubber tires and plastic waste into oil if the economics justified it.