Canada: We're Rich Biatch!!

So, it turns out that the Hubbert Curve, which is used to predict oil production in the world, only applies to oil wells. It doesn't apply to oil alternatives such as rock shale, tar sands, and coal. However, since liquid oil is the easiest to extract, it may still be accurat in predicting the peak of petroleum production in the world. And this curve is still predicting an oil peak sometime between 2005 and 2010.
For the middle east, this means boo-fricken-hoo. For Canada, yippee-kay-ay!
Let's just put it this way. There is an estimated equivalent of 3 trillion barrels in the Alberta oil sands. And, since it takes longer to extract than conventional oil, and since demand for oil is increasing at it's fastest rate in history it means it will be worth even more once liquid oil supplies drop into decline.
However, even that much oil is only good for about 150 years at current rates of use. Well, boo hoo, by that time we should have figured out how to access the methane hydrates frozen under the tundra. The methane hydrates that Canada controls about 85% of. And they're not a big problem, considering we have about 160 QUADRILLION barrels of that locked away.
Don't get me wrong. Since all of these sources are slower and more difficult to extract than conventional oil, and there is a huge increase in demand from developing countries, the price of gas will still skyrocket in future years. Fortunately, disgusting suburban sprawl will be more difficult with $8/litre fuel prices, so cities should become more livable. So, Canada gets all the benefit of high gas prices, and high oil prices. Huzzah.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.12/gas.html

http://www.endofsuburbia.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubberts_peak