Peak Oil was the subject of a lead article in The Independent on 14th June 2007.
Reporter Daniel Howden said, “A survey of the four countries with the biggest reported reserves – Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait – reveals major concerns. In Kuwait last year, a journalist found documents suggesting the country’s real reserves were half of what was reported. Iran this year became the first major oil producer to introduce oil rationing – an indication of the administration’s view on which way oil reserves are going.
“Sadad al-Huseini knows more about Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves than perhaps anyone else. He retired as chief executive of the kingdom’s oil corporation two years ago, and his view on how much Saudi production can be increased is sobering, ‘The problem is that you go from 79 million barrels a day in 2002 to 84.5 million in 2004. You’re leaping by two to three million (barrels a day) each year,’ he told The New York Times. ‘That’s like a whole new Saudi Arabia every couple of years. It can’t be done indefinitely’.”
