Understatement of the Week: Peak Oil, Schmeak Oil

From Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA; HT NewsBusters):

In contrast to a widely discussed theory that world oil production will soon reach a peak and go into sharp decline, a new analysis of the subject by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) finds that the remaining global oil resource base is actually 3.74 trillion barrels — three times as large as the 1.2 trillion barrels estimated by the theory’s proponents — and that the “peak oil” argument is based on faulty analysis which could, if accepted, distort critical policy and investment decisions and cloud the debate over the energy future.

….. The new report describes CERA’s liquids supply outlook as “not a view of endless abundance.” However, based on a range of potential scenarios and field-by-field analysis, CERA finds that not only will world oil production not peak before 2030, but that the idea of a peak is itself “a dramatic but highly questionable image.”

The understatement is that “Peak Oil” nonsense is already clouding the heads of policymakers in Washington and throughout the world, and serving as a convenient excuse for attempts to impose additional gasoline and other energy taxes.

The overt message: Don’t worry about “peak oil” nonsense. Be happy, but at the same time don’t let friends, neighbors, and especially politicians get away with peddling the “running out of oil soon” nonsense without challenge.