Exxon Mobil Corporation, one of the world's largest publicly owned petroleum companies, is the most forthright of the major oil companies having had the courage and honesty to quietly publish the declining discovery trend, based on sound industry data with reserve revisions properly backdated. Furthermore, the company is running page-size advertisements in European papers stressing the immense challenges to be faced in meeting future energy demand, hinting that the challenges might not be met despite its considerable expertise. Chevron recently joined their campaign publishing an advertisement in national newspapers stating that the 'Era of Easy Oil is Over'
The arrival of Peak Oil may be slightly delayed if worldwide demand for oil would fall. A global recession can hit demand for oil based products, independent of oil prices and is likely to be triggered by the global real estate bubble. If that bubble would burst, the loss of paper wealth would have a devastating effect on consumer spending and GDP. This would result in spare capacity building up again. Furthermore, the high price of crude itself can dampen demand. This problem is particularly noticeable in governments offering energy subsidies. This decreased consumption is not so obvious in cash-rich nations such as the USA or the EU, but it is there in a smaller measure. Nevertheless, this dampening adjustment would only be short lived and simply postpone the inevitable, only ensuring a steeper and more uncontrollable decline, but I acknowledge the possibility.
Era of Easy Oil is Over
