[Iris7]

"I think there's a lot of misconceptions of what peak oil is," Raymond, who is leading the U.S. oil study, said in an interview with the business newspaper last week. "The resource base is continually changing, driven by economics and technology."

Indeed. The "peak oil" idea is generally not understood.

Essentially "peak oil" means that as oil gets expensive people shift to substitutes and oil production declines.

It is important to note that the word "oil" in "peak oil" refers only to petroleum, that is, to pumpable liquids. Tar sands and oil shale and other unpumpable deposits are not petroleum. "Coal" and "oil" are only names for parts of a continuum.

[GregoryFul]

Tar sands and oil shale and other unpumpable deposits are not petroleum.

But they are being included in the "reserves" figure. Look at the sudden dramatic increase in Canadian reserves in the 90's. Oil tar sands. At $60 per barrel, maybe economically recoverable.