World oil experts meet in Uppsala, Sweden, to discuss oil depletion

The likely impacts of depleting world oil supplies will be discussed by leading analysts at a three-day international workshop in Sweden organized by Uppsala University and the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) on 23-25 May. The workshop is sponsored by the Swedish Energy Agency, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering and other.

"This workshop will provide a valuable opportunity for experts from around the world to discuss their data and views on what is surely a critical but not widely recognized problem -- the imminent peaking of world oil production and the subsequent decline in oil supplies. What Kyoto was to Climate; Uppsala is to Oil," said Dr. Colin J. Campbell, a retired oil industry executive and founder of ASPO.

An increasing number of experts now predict that world oil production will peak within a decade, from which point demand will outstrip long-term supply with the obvious consequence for prices. A number of geologists now say that large new oil discoveries are highly unlikely and new oil-recovery techniques will not provide enough to have any material impact on the date of peak. Oil currently supplies about 40% of the energy the world consumes and provides 90% of transport fuel so any shortfall in supply would have major consequences.

Experts from Europe, America, Russia and the Middle East will be among the 18 speakers at the workshop. They include current and former oil executives, industry advisers and analysts, engineers, economists, and academics; Mat Simmons - President of Simmons International, member of George W Bush's energy committee, Ray C. Leonard - Vice President of Exploration and New Ventures, Yukos Oil Co, Moscow, Ali Bakhtiari - adviser to National Iranian Oil company, Eric Mathiesen – from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Jean Laherrere - formerly deputy exploration managher of Total Oil Co, leading expert on depletion, Richard Douthwaite - Economist, founder of FEASTA, J. Lefevre - lawyer with central position in Kyoto negotiations and advising EU on environmental legislation.

For a complete list of workshop speakers and abstracts of their papers see: www.isv.uu.se/iwood2002

For information about the workshop contact:

Professor Kjell Aleklett, Uppsala University Tel: +46 18471-5825 / Mobile: +46 70425-0604 E-mail: aleklett@tsl.uu.se

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