About ASPO

A brief background

Colin J. Campbell:

“It was in Germany that ASPO had its origin. On December 7th in the year 2000, I was privileged to give a talk on oil depletion at the ancient University of Clausthal in the Harz Mountains. The idea of forming an institution, or network of scientists concerned about the subject, developed. Next day, I took the idea to Professor Wellmer, the head of the BGR in Hannover, who gave it his support. The Norwegians were the next to join, followed by the Swedes. Today, ASPO is represented in almost all European countries.”

Colin Campbell founded ASPO, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil, in January 2001. The start activity was a monthly newsletter that was sent out to interested persons. The next step was the organization of the first International Workshop on Oil Depletion in May 2002 in Uppsala, Sweden, by Professor Kjell Aleklett. A Swedish TV-team and two journalists, one from Associated Press and one from Sweden, covered the meeting.

During the year till the next workshop in Paris we could feel a growing interest for Peak Oil, and in Paris, we had several international TV-teams and journalists present. We asked the question how to make the world aware of that the party is over? An article in Oil and Gas Journal was a good start.

We are now very pleased to read that Oil and Gas Journal thinks that the Next Big Thing is Peak Oil.

The next step forward came when Professor Aleklett organized the first International Workshop on Oil Depletion in Uppsala in May of 2002, to be followed by workshops in Paris and Berlin.

Organization

Organization Chart

ASPO is an informal network working with a small budget, yet its voice is being heard, thanks in part to the Uppsala website. Perhaps its informal structure is its strength. It means that it can tell the truth freed of all the political, legalistic and commercial constraints that most organizations face. By all means, the subject of depletion is a sensitive one, being perhaps the most important single issue facing the modern world”.

International board

  • President: Kjell Aleklett Professor, Uppsala University, Sweden
  • Honorary Chairman: Colin J. Campbell, Dr, Cork, Ireland
  • Secretary: Mikael Höök, Ph.D. student, Uppsala University, Sweden
  • Member: Ugo Bardi, professor, University of Firenze, Italy
  • Member: Richard O’Rourke, ASPO-6, Ireland
  • Member: Pedro Prieto, ASPO-7, Spain
  • Member: Feng Lianyong, professor, University of Petroleum, Beijing, China
  • Member: Simon Ratcliffe, South Africa
  • Member: Richard Lawrence, USA
  • Member: Bruce Robinson, Australia

ASPO is a network of scientists, affiliated with institutions and universities, having an interest in determining the date and impact of the peak and decline of the world’s production of oil and gas, due to resource constraints.

Mission

ASPO’s mission is to:

  1. Define and evaluate the world’s endowment of oil and gas;
  2. Model depletion, taking due account of demand, economics, technology and politics;
  3. Raise awareness of the serious consequences for Mankind.