Peak oil "wrong," says Schwartz.
"The peak oil people simply don't know what they're talking about," said environmental futurist Peter Schwartz today at the Cleantech Forum in Washington, D.C.
Forget everything you've heard about peak oil as a driver of clean technology, said futurist Peter Schwartz today in a provocative closing session at the Cleantech Forum XVIII in Washington D.C.
"The peak oil people simply don't know what they're talking about, they don't know the facts," claimed Schwartz, co-founder and chairman of the Global Business Network and author of five books.
"Peak oil is wrong. We really don't know how much oil there is in most of the oil reservoirs of the world. Oil reservoirs are complex geological structures, and most of the data is in private hands, or in state governments, and they are not particularly forthcoming about how much is there." ...
"We don't know how much is out there," he said today. "And they tend to be very conservative, these estimates. And technology changes, and that opens up new reserves deep offshore. When I was at Shell, we could only drill into a thousand feet of water. Today, they're drilling into 10,000 feet of water, and 20,000 feet below that."
"GO TO THE SEA, YOUNG MAN!"
ReplyDelete"We don't know how much is out there, and they tend to be very conservative, these estimates. And technology changes, and that opens up new reserves deep offshore. When I was at Shell, we could only drill into a thousand feet of water. Today, they're drilling into 10,000 feet of water, and 20,000 feet below that." -- Environmental futurist Peter Schwartz 2008
From 1982 to 1986, Schwartz headed scenario planning for the Royal
Dutch/Shell group of companies.
As I have previously written and provided scientific documentation, two among several abstracts, provided here and here, serpentization processes below the seafloor produce Abiotic Oil.
Serpentinite has long been documented to be present in abundance below the seafloor: Sections of the earth's crust in the equatorial Atlantic, original publication date, 1976.
As stated in the above abstract:
"One of the inferences drawn from the distribution of rocks in this section is that serpentinites are probably a significant component of the oceanic crust, being emplaced as mantle-derived vertical intrusions in deep fault zones parallel to ridge axis."
And:
These processes involve (1) crustal uplift related to diapiric intrusions into the fracture zones of mantle-derived serpentinized peridotite, (2) intense tectonization of the rock units, (3) minor alkali basalt volcanism, and (4) hydrothermal activity and related metallogenesis."
The Wikipedia entry for serpentinite states:
"Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle. The alteration is particularly important at the sea floor at tectonic plate boundaries."
And it's technically and economically viable for the oil industry to recover crude oil from almost anyplace on the seafloor.
The largest crude oil deposits have been found in sedimentary basins located above tectonic faults.
But it's known that oil deposits form "raised" geological features as demonstrated by the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia.
Ghawar has a raised structure visible in this three dimentional diagram and in this cross-section diagram of the Arabian tectonic plate.
Are there "raised" geological structures on the seafloor?
Yes, there are many, and many of those are associated with tectonic fault lines.
Take a look at this satelite plate-tectonic map
The great thing about this map is that the viewer can focus on areas of interest.
Take a look at the offshore area just South-West off the Brazil coast beyond the Carioca oil discovery. There is a raised area. Could there be huge oil under that raised area?
What about the lost continent of "Zealandia" that is off New Zealand?
And consider all the "transform" faults, which could be explored for oil.
"Virtually" explore the world's oceans for yourself on the above linked satelite map.
How many areas do you think might have deposits of oil & gas?