Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

The “Hubbert Curve.” Decades ago, Hubbert predicted oil production would peak in 2000. It turns out Hubbert
was not exactly right, but pretty close. Source: Wikimedia Commons
When this Task Force began its work in March 2008, there was a sense that the peak might
still be a few years away. However, it is now clear that peak may have arrived while we
went about our work. It is likely that the world will never again produce or be able to
produce as much oil in a single year as it did in 2008. Production reached a plateau in 2005
and barely budged above that the plateau through 2008, despite a record oil price of $147 a
barrel recorded in July. That month, the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline rose to over
$4.00 a gallon in Bloomington and as high as $5.00 a gallon in other parts of the county.
Subsequently, as we all know, the market price of oil – and the price of unleaded –
plummeted. This was not because of an increase in production, but because of a huge drop
in demand. In fact, oil production is down significantly. The Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) in particular has reduced its output in an attempt to set a
bottom limit to the price. In the meantime, exploration for new oil fields and much
development of previously‐identified but hitherto unexploited fields has been put on hold.
As the economy begins to recover from its worst nosedive since the Great Depression,
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force
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