Shane Sweet, New England Fuel Institute, (617) 924-1000

Gene Guilford, Independent Connecticut Petroleum Assn. (860) 613-2041

Kevin Rooney, Oil Heat Institute of Long Island (631) 360-0200

Jamie Py, Maine Oil Dealers Assn. (207) 729-5298

Michael Ferrante, Massachusetts Oilheat Council (781) 237-0730

Robert Garside, Oil Heat Council of New Hampshire (603) 895-3808

Eric DeGesero, Fuel Merchants Assn. of New Jersey (973) 464-9504

John Maniscalco , New York [City] Oil Heating Assn. (212) 695-1380

Julie Gill, Oil Heat Institute of Rhode Island , (401) 464-8000

Matt Cota, Vermont Fuel Dealers Assn. (802) 485-7999

Michael O’Connor, Virginia Petroleum Marketers and C-Store Assoc. (804-282-7534)

 Recent Oil Finds Repudiate Peak Oil Claims

Billions of Recoverable Barrels Located in North Dakota Oil Fields Confirm that World Oil Supplies Will Last Hundreds of Years

April 15, 2008 (Boston, MA) – A recent report stating that a North Dakota oil field contains at least 25 times more recoverable oil than previously believed calls into question the claim that the world has reached a “peak oil” tipping point, home heating oil advocates said today.

“The recent report from the U.S. Geological Survey makes it pretty hard to believe those who say we’re at peak oil right now,” Shane Sweet, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the New England Fuel Institute, said today. “Given what we now know about the extent of the oil in the Bakken field, as well as other recent finds, it’s clear that there is enough recoverable supply to last us for at least another 200 years or so.”

The so-called “peak oil” school of thought holds that most of the world’s oil supply has already been exhausted and that the supply will dry up entirely sometime in the not-too-distant future, perhaps as soon as 10 years.

The USGS report on the Bakken Field, though, shows that such “peak oil” claims are, at best, misleading.

According to the USGS report, the Bakken Field holds somewhere between 3 billion and 4.3 billion recoverable barrels of oil. The agency’s previous assessment, from 1991, put the estimate at 151 million barrels.

Recent finds in Mexico , as well as recent news suggesting that Brazil ’s oil fields may be larger than previously thought, also make “peak oil” claims harder to believe.

The Bakken Field confirmation, in addition to the Jack-2 discovery in the Gulf of Mexico in 2006 that itself added an estimated 50% to U.S. reserves, effectively mutes the “peak oil” hysteria floated by some. Cambridge Energy Research Associates predicts world oil and natural gas liquids capacity could increase as much as 25% by 2015. Says Robert W. Esser, a director of CERA: "Peak Oil theory is garbage as far as we're concerned."

“Peak Oil is in the same league with the flat earth,” Sweet said. “Facts are facts, and the facts in this case simply don’t support the notion of peak oil.”

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ICPA represents more than 540 Connecticut based independent businesses. These businesses employ 13,000 Connecticut citizens and supply the majority of our state's 1,600 motor fuels outlets and 350 heating fuels dealers. ICPA's offices are at 10 Alcap Ridge, Cromwell, CT  06416.  For more information about today's Press Release, contact Gene Guilford or Chris Herb.