Enough oil and for how long?

For all of you following the alleged impending catastrophic destruction of modern society known as peak oil; which is the moment when global oil extraction 'peaks' and begins its terminal decline which will theoretically force radical changes through the very fabric of our completely oil dependent society, it’s possible that there is some ok news on the horizon. Keep building those underground bunkers, just in case!

Is There Plenty Of Oil?

First came Holstein, then Mad Dog, and soon, Thunder Horse. Atlantis will join them next year. The four giant oil fields, operated by BP PLC (BP ) and located under thousands of feet of water off the coast of Louisiana, are just beginning to pump their first barrels. At their peak rates later in the decade, they'll produce some 500,000 bbl. per day, an amount akin to floating a small Middle Eastern country such as Syria or Yemen into the Gulf of Mexico. "Add them together, and it's a massive step change," says David Eyton, BP's vice-president for deepwater in the Gulf. "The investment we're making will more than offset declines we're seeing in Alaska and the Continental Shelf."

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