The Seventh Fold

Fellow Folders,

I’ve said before that tar sands production in Athabasca (northern Canada) is a clear sign that oil production has reached the seventh fold. Metaphorically, all of the low-hanging fruit has been harvested and our oil addiction has forced oil producers onto ever more marginal sites of production (like deep and ultra-deep water production, heavy oil production, tar sands production, and arctic production).

Compared to the fields of old, new fields are: 1) more expensive to produce, 2) more water intensive to produce, 3) more energy intensive to produce, and 4) more risky to produce. Read more…