The Oil Drum

73 comments on Weekend Open Thread...

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step back on November 26, 2005 - 11:19am

One article about Sect. Bodman of DOE suggests that Peak Oilers are a "vocal minority" in the oil community.

Is that true?
Is PO a "minority" view?
Do more than 60% of oil experts believe we have decades to go before hitting peak if ever?

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mikeB on November 26, 2005 - 11:24am

I've always taken "vocal minority" to be a dismissive phrase. Too bad everything's got to have a little label attached to it.

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Glenn on November 26, 2005 - 2:35pm

It is dismissive, but I prefer to think of us as Margaret Mead spoke of vocal minorities.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead
US anthropologist & popularizer of anthropology (1901 - 1978)

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BeaconBoy on November 26, 2005 - 2:30pm

Being my cynical self and reading between the lines, this appears to be an attempt by Bodman is to quash the whole idea of PO. The IEA had a go a few weeks and now it's the DOE's turn.

It won't stop the geology but it will stop the scrutiny. High prices will be blamed on speculation and above ground concerns as to supply. Irrational fears etc. Noisy PO minorities etc. We have heard them all before.

Can we really expect the Exxon Mobil chief to say yes PO its real and it will affect us all profoundly?

The term vocal minority says it all.

I expect this will be one of many battles we will have to fight. Expect the full weight of the oil industry and the USGS and fellow travellers to be used, to muddy the waters and smear all in sight.

To me indicates one thing its game on and peak oil is real and is beginning to cause angst to the elites.

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joule on November 26, 2005 - 3:30pm

DOE Secretary Bodman's calling upon the oil industry for a study of the 'big picture several years out' is a classic example of a CYA non-study in which the real purpose of the study is to get the oil industry to go on record that things will be a bit tight but more or less OK.

He knows the oil people can't say otherwise, lest they damage the value of their own stock. And he knows that if things go south in a bad way, he can always fall back and say, "Well, it's not my fault, because those bad oil people lied to me and said everything was going to be OK!"

It is also good PR, in that it helps demonstrate that our rulers are 'Doing Something.' This is an exercise in producing fluff and consuming fluff.