There is concern within some factions of the energy industry about an approaching global crisis caused by peak oil production. To shed light on the subject, this book assesses the threat that depletion poses to the availability of fossil energy resources. It does so by estimating cumulative supply curves for conventional petroleum (oil, gas, and natural gas liquids) and for three unconventional sources of liquids (heavy oil, oil sands, and oil shale). The analysis extends the important study conducted by the US Geological Survey (2000) on this topic by taking account of (1) conventional...