Oil Depletion Analysis Centre
Encyclopedia
The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC) is an independent, UK
-registered educational charity. The centre is working to raise international public awareness and promote better understanding of the world's oil depletion
and peak oil problem.
ODAC was founded in June 2001 on the belief that an informed public debate
about the likely impacts of depleting oil
supplies is critically needed. A growing number of experts now predict that world oil production has peaked or will reach its physical peak within the coming decade and then start to permanently decline. The prevailing view of most energy
policy-makers and institutions is that near-term oil supply is mainly an economic and geopolitical
concern. Under almost any scenario, however, lead time is running short for a smooth transition to new energy systems and a less oil-dependent way of life.
Formerly Head of Public Affairs and Community Relations, Mobil
North Sea Ltd, and author of a book on the history of the company's activities, he is currently a non-executive director of Sponsorship Consulting Ltd, a marketing communications firm.
Sarah Astor:
Co-founder of ODAC and of another UK charity that helps political refugees (Asylum Aid), she was formerly a trustee of a research charity dedicated to sustainable land-use, agriculture and food systems (Elm Farm Research Centre).
Dr. Colin Campbell:
Former Executive Vice President, Fina
Exploration, Norway
, he is Chairman and Founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas
(ASPO) and Visiting Scientist at Uppsala University
in Sweden
. He has published three books and numerous articles on oil depletion.
Richard Hardman, CBE:
Former Vice President, Exploration, Amerada Hess
International, he is now an oil and gas exploration consultant. He was formerly President of the UK Geological Society, and chairman of the Science and Innovation Strategy Board of the Natural Environment Research Council
.
Roger Harrison:
Formerly chairman of a media investment and property company, he was also a non-executive director
of three major media companies and chief executive of The Observer
newspaper. He is a trustee of several charities, including a social service charity (Toynbee Hall) and Elm Farm Research Centre.
Chris Skrebowski
:
Editor of Petroleum Review, a monthly magazine published by the Energy Institute
in London, he formerly edited Petroleum Economist and was an oil market analyst for the Saudis for eight years. He started his career in the oil industry as a long-term planner for BP
, then joined Petroleum Times as a journalist and edited an offshore magazine in the late 1970s.
David Strahan http://www.davidstrahan.com/index.html is an award-winning investigative journalist and documentary film-maker, with many years experience of popularising some of the most difficult and important stories in business and science. He quit the BBC to spend two years researching and writing The Last Oil Shock: A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man,http://www.lastoilshock.com/index.html published by John Murray Ltd in April 2007. (Interview: 3 August 2007)
Senior Analyst, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Iran
.
Brian Fleay
Institute of Sustainability & Technology Policy, Murdoch University
, Australia
.
Klaus Illum
Energy Systems Analysis Consultant, Denmark
.
Jean Laherrère
Former Deputy Exploration Manager, Total Oil Company, France
.
Ray Leonard,
CEO Hyperdynamics Incorporated, Houston, Texas, USA.
Jim MacKenzie
Senior Associate, World Resources Institute
, USA.
Susanne Peters
Senior Fellow, Political Science Department, University of Giessen
, Germany
.
Matthew Simmons
President, Simmons & Company International (energy investment firm), USA.
Walter Youngquist
Geologist and Consultant, USA.
Walter Ziegler
Exploration Consultant, Switzerland
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-registered educational charity. The centre is working to raise international public awareness and promote better understanding of the world's oil depletion
Oil depletion
Oil depletion occurs in the second half of the production curve of an oil well, oil field, or the average of total world oil production. The Hubbert peak theory makes predictions of production rates based on prior discovery rates and anticipated production rates. Hubbert curves predict that the...
and peak oil problem.
ODAC was founded in June 2001 on the belief that an informed public debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
about the likely impacts of depleting oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
supplies is critically needed. A growing number of experts now predict that world oil production has peaked or will reach its physical peak within the coming decade and then start to permanently decline. The prevailing view of most energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
policy-makers and institutions is that near-term oil supply is mainly an economic and geopolitical
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
concern. Under almost any scenario, however, lead time is running short for a smooth transition to new energy systems and a less oil-dependent way of life.
Aims
ODAC aims to engage public interest, stimulate concern and create public-interest momentum for progressive change in energy policy and planning.- Disseminating available information as effectively as possible to news media, other opinion-formers and leaders, interest groups, and the public at large
- Facilitating information exchanges between and among interested parties
- Monitoring developments in oil-depletion analysis, maintaining an up-to-date information base, and offering an advisory service on oil-depletion issues
Trustees
Christopher Patey (Chair):Formerly Head of Public Affairs and Community Relations, Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
North Sea Ltd, and author of a book on the history of the company's activities, he is currently a non-executive director of Sponsorship Consulting Ltd, a marketing communications firm.
Sarah Astor:
Co-founder of ODAC and of another UK charity that helps political refugees (Asylum Aid), she was formerly a trustee of a research charity dedicated to sustainable land-use, agriculture and food systems (Elm Farm Research Centre).
Dr. Colin Campbell:
Former Executive Vice President, Fina
Fina
Fina may refer to:*Fina, a character in the Skies of Arcadia video game*FINA, the International Swimming Federation*FINA, the North American Forum on Integration...
Exploration, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, he is Chairman and Founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas
Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, or ASPO, is a network of scientists, affiliated with a wide array of global institutions and universities, whose goal is to attempt to determine the date and impact of the peak and decline of the world’s production of oil and gas, due to resource...
(ASPO) and Visiting Scientist at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. He has published three books and numerous articles on oil depletion.
Richard Hardman, CBE:
Former Vice President, Exploration, Amerada Hess
Hess Corporation
The Hess Corporation is an integrated oil company based in New York City. The company explores, produces, transports, and refines crude oil and natural gas. Vertically completing the logistical chain, about 1,360 Hess branded filling stations market gasoline to consumers in 16 states along the...
International, he is now an oil and gas exploration consultant. He was formerly President of the UK Geological Society, and chairman of the Science and Innovation Strategy Board of the Natural Environment Research Council
Natural Environment Research Council
The Natural Environment Research Council is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.-History:...
.
Roger Harrison:
Formerly chairman of a media investment and property company, he was also a non-executive director
Non-executive director
A non-executive director or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way...
of three major media companies and chief executive of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper. He is a trustee of several charities, including a social service charity (Toynbee Hall) and Elm Farm Research Centre.
Chris Skrebowski
Chris Skrebowski
Chris Skrebowski is a well-known commentator on the oil industry and an expert on global oil supply. He is the founding Director of Peak Oil Consulting and consulting editor for Petroleum Review, the magazine of the UK Energy Institute...
:
Editor of Petroleum Review, a monthly magazine published by the Energy Institute
Energy Institute
The Energy Institute, commonly referred to as EI, is the main professional organization for the energy industry within the UK that promotes the safe, environmentally responsible and efficient supply and use of energy in all its forms and applications...
in London, he formerly edited Petroleum Economist and was an oil market analyst for the Saudis for eight years. He started his career in the oil industry as a long-term planner for BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, then joined Petroleum Times as a journalist and edited an offshore magazine in the late 1970s.
David Strahan http://www.davidstrahan.com/index.html is an award-winning investigative journalist and documentary film-maker, with many years experience of popularising some of the most difficult and important stories in business and science. He quit the BBC to spend two years researching and writing The Last Oil Shock: A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man,http://www.lastoilshock.com/index.html published by John Murray Ltd in April 2007. (Interview: 3 August 2007)
Advisers
Ali Morteza Samsam BakhtiariAli Morteza Samsam Bakhtiari
Ali Morteza Samsam Bakhtiari was a senior expert employed by the National Iranian Oil Company . He held a number of senior positions with this organization beginning in 1971. He was also an advisor to the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre.He held a PhD in chemical engineering from the Swiss Federal...
Senior Analyst, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
Brian Fleay
Institute of Sustainability & Technology Policy, Murdoch University
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Klaus Illum
Energy Systems Analysis Consultant, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
Jean Laherrère
Jean Laherrère
Jean H. Laherrère is a petroleum engineer and consultant, best known as the co-author of an influential 1998 Scientific American article entitled . Laherrère worked for 37 years with Total S.A., a French petroleum company. His work on seismic refraction surveys contributed to the discovery of...
Former Deputy Exploration Manager, Total Oil Company, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Ray Leonard,
CEO Hyperdynamics Incorporated, Houston, Texas, USA.
Jim MacKenzie
Senior Associate, World Resources Institute
World Resources Institute
The World Resources Institute is an environmental think tank founded in 1982 based in Washington, D.C. in the United States.WRI is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts,...
, USA.
Susanne Peters
Senior Fellow, Political Science Department, University of Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Matthew Simmons
Matthew Simmons
Matthew Roy Simmons was founder and chairman emeritus of Simmons & Company International, and was a prominent advocate of peak oil. Simmons was motivated by the 1973 energy crisis to create an investment banking firm catering to oil companies. In his previous capacity, he served as energy...
President, Simmons & Company International (energy investment firm), USA.
Walter Youngquist
Geologist and Consultant, USA.
Walter Ziegler
Exploration Consultant, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.