WikiLeaks reveals imminent Saudi oil peak

The Globe and Mail:

Confidential cables from the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia released recently by WikiLeaks confirm what others have long suspected: OPEC’s kingpin producer, Saudi Arabia, has little more to give.

The cables from the U.S. embassy in Riyadh cite a number of conversations between embassy personnel and Sadad Al Husseini, a geologist and former executive vice-president of exploration and production with Aramco, the Saudi oil monopoly. The former Aramco exploration head contends neither the kingdom’s reserve estimates nor future production targets can be believed. According to Mr. Husseini, Aramco’s estimates of its world-leading reserves are inflated by 40 per cent.

More important, Mr. Husseini acknowledged Saudi production is never likely to get to Aramco’s 12.5 million barrel per day target. Instead, the country is struggling to produce even 10 million barrels a day and it may soon encounter a production peak after which flow rates will inevitably decline. Yet the International Energy Agency is counting on Saudi Arabia to produce no less than 14.6 million barrels a day by 2035.

Continue reading here.