Proven reserves of [of oil] are close to 1.3 trillion barrels, equal more than 40 years of output at current consumption rates; remaining recoverable resources of conventional oil alone are almost twice as big. But there can be no guarantee that those resources will be exploited quickly enough to meet the projected level of demand. Decline rates – the rate at which individual oilfields decline annually – are set to accelerate in the long term in each major world region…Even if oil demand was to remain flat to 2030, roughly four times the current capacity of Saudi Arabia would need to be built worldwide by 2030 just to offset the effect of oilfield decline.
From the International Energy Agency 2008 World Energy Outlook
Related posts: