Thanks for the correction JD - sloppy of me not to check before extrapolating the general trend to a stronger claim.

That's interesting, JD, but 1980-85 was the Alaskan north slope production entering the system and it didn't alter the downtrend for more than a few years.

Got another North Slope you can pop open every 5 years in North America?

But let's look at the US data from the EIA just so we can get a clear picture of what really happened.

When we look at that chart, the North Slope event is obvious and the other few years you mention are nothing but minor blips.

So yes, production managed to increase a few times, by minor amounts aside from the North Slope production. But those variations were irrelevant to the overall trend. I'll even say that I expect production to rarely increase in North America in the coming few decades but each such increase will again be tiny and have no real impact on the general downward trend of North American production.

What is of concern is the general trend. Should Stuart have double checked his facts? Sure. But even with the minor errors, the intent of his statement, that oil production has been on a 30 year downward trend, remains true.