Peak Oil? Can I Introduce You To Peak Tar Sands?

Running out of oil? What about the tar sands? asks Shell president Jeroen van der Veer, in response to Bush's State of the Union address.

Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's chief, said: "President Bush has to run America and we have to run Shell, but there is a huge energy challenge in the world. We have plenty of opportunities. This is not about proved resources, but hydrocarbon resources."

Shell was feeling "very good" about the prospect of finding plenty of oil and gas, by developing hitherto untouched parts of the globe.

World oil and gas production was nowhere near peaking because of the potential of untapped reserves made economic by the higher oil price.

He said: "There is the theory of 'peak oil' - that the big discoveries have all gone. But we don't know where the peak will come with oil sands. With oil shale, we have not yet started. There will be many peaks in many time frames."

Well, maybe. Let's just see you actually do it, buster... Meantime, "[Shell] admitted it only replaced six or seven of every 10 barrels the company extracted last year, up from five out of every 10 in 2004."