Re: We paid 4.35 in Stanley, Idaho...

Well, oil is a finite resource.

What do you expect? Gas is still "cheep" in many regards as some of our friends around the world are paying much more a gallon than we are. A good geology friend of my in New Zealand is paying 9.50 a gallon, and we can expect to see 5.00 a gallon before the summer is over.

We will inevitably drill in Alaska. We will inevitably suck every last drop of oil out of the ground. It is just a matter of time.

Quick question. If we gave the go ahead today to start drilling in Alaska, when would that oil start reaching our gas tanks? And how much would we be able to pull out in a day?

Answer: 2013 and reach a peak of 876,000 barrels a day by 2025.

Peak. The term peak when talking about oil is a VERY important one indeed. If you look at any well, any well in the world it does not matter where, the production that you can get out of it follows a "bell curve" as a function of time. That is, when you first start drilling the oil start trickling out, then steadily increases until it reaches a peak of maximum production for that particular well. Then the oil production declines and gets more difficult to recover. You have to pump water or CO2 into the ground to start forcing the oil out and eventually there is no more recoverable oil.

So that is one well, and EVERY well in the world follows this "bell curve" in terms of production. So if we integrate all the wells in the world, then we can expect a "peak" in global production. This idea of peak oil is happening now. We are producing the MOST oil we will ever produce in the world right now. The United States oil production peaked in the early 70's and the world is peaking now.

This means as time continues to move forward, and demand is ever increasing, we can expect oil to go up and up and up. This is beyond environmental issue, this is the raw deal. We have staked our entire energy diet on a finite resource, one that we have known for years would someday run out.

We are living in interesting times. Today marks a beginning of a new age in the American Empire. The party is over folks, the cheap oil has run out. The age of the 3,000 mile Caesar salad is almost over.

Ben

P.S. Some of the things I talk about come from scientists, and I know how this audience feels about science.

"The less we say about it the better...Make it up as we go along"

-Talking Heads