You voiced my fear.

We need Khebab and WebHubble's help here, but it is my understanding that the peak hight and width are controlled by how fast you can drain the reservoirs. If you can drain them very fast, you get a tall narrow peak. And if you are restricted to draining them slowly you get a low wide peak. (basically what we saw with Prudhoe bay where the oil pipeline kept the flow rates low, vs Cantarell where nitrogen injection kept flow rates high). A popping balloon curve shape would be lethal.

I just hope costs creep slowly upwards. Slow enough they don't destroy the economy. Fast enough that people can be convinced to take some action.

The other issue that worries me is that the nat gas sector is consuming ever larger quantities of steel. And that is going to compete directly with building wind turbines.

But on a whole, if any fossil fuel is going to be found in greater abundance, I would much rather it be natural gas than oil or coal. Natural gas has the lowest carbon footprint, and it does not discourage peak oil preparation. Keep up the good work Texans!

To repeat what I stated in a previous post with my very limited understanding of natural gas production:

The production rate of a conventional gas well is like emptying an air mattress. The flow rate is high at the beginning but a good flow rate can be maintained by a few manipulations.

An unconventional natural gas well is like a fart.

HTH ;-)