Fact:  There is virtually no controversy over the fact that the world will reach maximum oil production.

However, there is controversy over when the exact peak will occur, the effects of declining oil availability, and potential ways to mitigate the effcts of the problem.

The exact date or year of a peak in world oil production is beside the point - most credible sources place it between two and 10 years from now - since the task of preparing for peak oil is so immense that we need to start now.

Myth:  "We have 40 years of oil left."

We may well be producing oil 40 years from now, but we won't be producing as much oil as we are today. Once we pass the peak and oil production starts declining, we will have less and less oil available every year.

Myth:  "Peak Oil is just "big oil" propaganda to justify outrageous gasoline prices."

Big oil does not promote peak oil, in fact many oil executives sometimes claim that peak will not occur until after 2020. The major oil firms do not control oil prices, which are set on the open market. In fact, the amount of oil controlled by the international oil corporations is quickly being dwarfed by the oil that is owned by national oil companies such as Pemex, Saudi Aramco, Gazprom.

Myth:  "We just need to drill our way to low prices."

Although oil producers continue to find and exploit oil across the world, no major oil fields have been discovered in several decades. The majority of the oil consumption in the world comes from about 400 large, giant and super-giant oil fields. These types of fields are no longer being found. 

Instead, companies are turning to difficult, expensive oil substitutes such as oil shale and oil sands. We can get some oil out of these formations - but not nearly enough to make up for the oil decline that will occur after peak oil. Every so often, an oil company or nationalized oil firm will announce a "huge" oil find - but these never seem to produce the amount of oil that was originally estimated. The smaller oil fields found in the last five years can produce just a drop in the bucket compared to the oil decline that will occur once the largest oil fields peak.

Myth:  "Now that oil prices have returned to normal, the problem is solved."

The very wide swing in oil prices over the last year is cause for serious concern. Although the oil industry is famous for boom-and-bust cycles, there has never been a swing of this magnitude in such a short period of time. Oil prices at the current level make many expensive projects uneconomical, and many are being cancelled or put on hold. This means that the investment in oil infrastructure, exploration, and production needed to meet our oil demand over the next 10 years has been postponed indefinitely.

Myth:  "Alternative energy will provide all our future energy needs."

Although technologies such as electric cars, solar energy and wind energy are very promising, and will be very valuable in the future, they cannot begin to meet our current energy needs. Solar and wind energy do not provide liquid fuels to run our transportation system. We have a fleet of 250 million vehicles - only one-third of one percent are electric. All of our agricultural machinery also runs on gasoline - not electricity. Additionally, solar and wind power cannot heat homes that are currently using heating oil unless all these homeowers all purchase new electric furnaces.

Myth:  "Peak Oil is so huge a problem we may as well just give up."

Peak oil will require many changes in the way that we live, drive and do business.  Continuing our current inefficient, wasteful infrastructure and economy is not a viable long-term option. However, Transition Town OKC believes that by working together we can make major strides towards energy efficiency, relocalizing our economy, agriculture and communities, shifting our transportation system to use less energy, and making alternative energy more available.