There is a “significant risk” that global production of conventional oil could “peak” and decline by 2020, a report has warned. The UK Energy Research Council study says there is a consensus that the era of cheap oil is at an end, but it warns that most governments, including the UK’s, exhibit little concern about oil depletion.
But the authors say the risk presented by global oil depletion deserves much more serious attention by the research and policy communities. “Much existing research focuses on the economic and political threats to oil supply security and fails to either assess or to integrate the risks presented by physical depletion effectively,” they argue.
Read more: Science Daily, The Guardian