18 February 2009
Peak Oil (PO) is the term describing being at, or very near to, the point of maximum global oil production, and that following the peak, oil production will start to fall, irreversibly. 54 of the top 60 oil producing countries have reached their own peak and have diminishing oil production. Globally, we
are currently in a production plateau. From this point onwards, it becomes increasingly expensive in terms of both energy and money to extract the remaining oil. Peak Oil does not speculate when we will run out of oil, instead it looks at the geological evidence regarding resource depletion, observing that we no longer have cheap and abundant oil. (For further information see the SDF Resource Sheet on Peak Oil and Energy Uncertainty.)