IEA ‘whistleblower’ says peak oil nearing

The world is closer to a peak in oil supply than International Energy Agency estimates admit, UK newspaper The Guardian reported in today’s edition, citing an unidentified "whistleblower" at the IEA.

The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.

"Many inside the organisation believe that maintaining oil supplies at even 90 million to 95 million barrels a day would be impossible but there are fears that panic could spread on the financial markets if the figures were brought down further," the Guardian quoted the IEA source as saying.

Read more: Upstream Online or The Guardian