The good folks at the Post Carbon Institute have looked back at the last couple of years and the trends in oil prices and supply, and concluded that July 11th 2008 was the turning point.
That was the day that the price of a barrel of oil hit $147.27, the highest it has ever been. It was a record month for production too, at 74.8 million barrels a day.
As we’ve mentioned before, the oil price subsequenly collapsed, infrastructure investments were cancelled, demand crashed along with the economy, and the chances are that the oil industry will never again climb the giddy heights of July 2008.
It’s always going to be controversial to announce a precise date for peak oil, but who cares if it turns out to be inexact? How about the 11th of July for an international Peak Oil day? I like it, and it can be our next sidebar ad.
There are plenty of ways to observe it. Richard Heinberg suggests “spending time in nature, engaging in a 24-hour oil fast, or organizing a neighborhood bicycle parade and solar-cooker bakeoff.” If you want to help make it official, you can sign the petition here, and it will be presented to US energy secretary Stephen Chu.
The Earthbound Report 