If we look hard enough and drill deep enough we may find enough oil and gaz for another 50+ years.

It would still be wise to start using more efficient vehicles and HVAC before we get to the last drop.

Of course, biofuels will replace some fossil oil and gaz but we should not count on a one for one easy replacement.

That's right Anne, and the platform was built by the French. ;^)
More to the point: @ejj
They're drilling deeper than ever before, that does NOT translate to "pay less." It will be 'pay more' if anything. And this rig will only produce 100,000 bblpd while America uses over 20,000,000 bblpd!

The simple fact is you CAN'T drill your way out of this mess, its time to think outside the box.

This and many other untapped oil fields will not postpone the Peak Oil date!!
We all will have to live using less and less energy from fossil fuels.

"Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist"
Kenneth Boulding

While dismayed at the thought that deep-drilling might short-circuit the possibility of a greener solution to our looming energy crisis, i'm relieved that there might be more energy in the gulf....any where but the middle east (or venezuela)!

ideally, it will be only a little more oil...enough to prevent economic collapse.

Annon:

Don't you think that by reducing fossil fuel consumption by 50% with much more efficient vehicles (HEVs + PHEVs + BEVs) electrified high speed trains, more efficient airplanes, very high efficiency (SEER-25) HVAC and (150 lm/W) lights, electrified ships + accellerated devolpment of non-food bio-fuels, etc we could make the remaining fossil fuels last another half century or more?

The following is from the film "A Crude Awakening, The Oil Crash":

An unforgettable and shocking wake up call, A CRUDE AWAKENING offers the rock-solid argument that the era of cheap oil is in the past. Relentless and clear-eyed, this intensively-researched film drills deep into the uncomfortable realities of a world that is both addicted to fossil fuels and blissfully UNAWARE of the looming "peak oil" crisis.

Drawing on an international cast of maverick energy experts and thinkers, directors Basel Gelpke and Ray McCormack debunk the conventional wisdom that oil production will continue to climb, and instead stare bleakly at a planet facing economic meltdown and conflict over its most valuable resourse.
http://www.oilcrashmovie.com/

@paul
"We need all the inputs, lots of drilling including, to find a way out of this mess."
Yeah but you got to remember 'this mess' includes Global Warming. And the longer the Republicans take to understand that, the more painful the REAL consequences will be.

There's a reason this site is called the *Green* Car Congress. We have to find ways to use less oil, and also less coal.

No single oil rig is going to solve the problem... duh that doesn't mean it won't help. The dems are correct we need to develop alt energy. That is correct but what the dems don't understand is the republicans think so too, but with the reality check being that it can't be done overnight And that it will take a lot of money to do it. The less money we send overseas means the more money we keep at home for the coming conversion.

We obviously need an all of the above approach for now.

Where is the EV? I live for the day when I see one on the road.

"Viva American-made

Uuuhhhh, Shell is Dutch/British.

Posted by: Anne

That's right Anne, and the platform was built by the French. ;^)"

Viva globalization is more like it. Built and staffed by American workers, and paying royalties and taxes to US state and federal govt.

Expect Petrobras to replicate top this (in one form or another) in the Santos basin.

___A reason these energy companies are pounding to open up these offshore fields is the energy nationalism that has emerged over the past decade. These companies had easy access to oil and gas fields during the 90's. Its no longer the case, with countries demanding a bigger slice in the profits and at times nationalizing assets. National champions, like Gazprom, have become tools in geopolitics as energy prices increased since the bottom of 1998-1999. Offshore US is one area left that is relatively friendly to petroleum companies.

___It is as much political peak oil as geological peak oil. Additionally, most of the spare capacity can't be used, unless you want to build up a reserve for future refineries/refinery capacity that can handle heavy sour crude.

___Shell, BP, and other oil companies are locked out of many of the fields, and have declining reserves. They have few places (traditional and unconventional) to throw their billion at that can sustain their output. Look for a big push into renewables in the years ahead. The Europeans will push for renewables as a way to decrease energy dependence on Russia. A large component may be to push their companies to use their profits (BP, Shell, Total, StatoilHydro) .

"We need all the inputs, lots of drilling including, to find a way out of this mess."

If by "a way out of this mess", you mean a way to keep the stock market and the banking system 'healthy' as that word is defined in neoclassical economics then you are living in a dream world. The only way back to true economic health lies through learning to live with ecological modesty. If we do not reject the growth paradigm then not even cheap fusion power (hot or cold) could save us from eventual collapse.

The Newfoundland Canada HEBRON 200 000 barrels/day offshore platforms have been approved and will be going up within about 3 years and will pump for 25+ years. More will come latter.

Combined with Alberta's tar sands, it seems that Canada will not run out of oil for another 100+ years.

Worldwide Peak oil may be around soon but not in Canada.