Is Saudi’s oil peaking?

The latest papers from Wikileaks show the US questioning Saudi claims about its oil reserves:

Saudi Aramco is having to run harder to stay in place – to replace the decline in existing production.

The Guardian also quotes former Saudi Aramco executive Sadad al-Husseini saying that Saudi Arabia’s claims of 12.5 million barrels per day capacity is unachievable.

As with most Wikileaks cables, the information provided has been in the public domain for some time.

I blogged some time ago about the dubious nature of official estimates of existing production capacity, and Iraq’s recent revision of its supply estimates again highlighted the vagaries of the whole process.

Even Al-Husseini has gone on record before to raise the alarm.

The bottom line is that there  is not enough new capacity coming on line, within say the next five to six years, to make up for global declines.”

But even if this latest wire is not exactly news, that doesn’t make it less significant.

Perhaps it will prove to be the last straw on this particular camel’s back, and will prompt more people to ask: “why are governments and oil companies refusing to acknowledge, let alone act upon, these facts?”