Resource Depletion

During the summer of 2005 Luís started a Portuguese language web-site on Peak Oil (PicoDoPetroleo.net) when faced with the wide apathy of local media and political class towards the subject. Later that year he was invited to start the Portuguese chapter of ASPO, becoming the developer and manager of its web-site (ASPO-Portugal.com)

In 2006 Luís started submitting research articles to TheOilDrum, an electronic forum on energy depletion that would become the world reference in this field. During the Fall of 2006 he would publish his first article on World Oil Exports where he postulated that the volume of Oil traded internationally had entered a terminal decline, being this the utmost factor behind rising oil prices in recent years. By the end of that year Luís would integrate the team that started the European chapter of TheOilDrum, thus becoming a permanent contributor to the forum, a role he still maintains.

Luís would deepen his work on Exports the following years. In October of 2008 we was an invited speaker to the ASPO Conference in Barcelona, where he presented a model encompassing 25 individual oil exporting nations, which produced essentially the same conclusions of the earlier assessment in 2006. Almost 5 years after his ground breaking observations there are now but a handful of countries in the world with real perspectives to increase oil exports; little doubt remains on the accuracy of his forecast.

Beyond Oil Exports, Luís’ research has touched several subjects through the years, including the Olduvai Theory, macro-economic consequences of Petroleum depletion and Coal supplies. More recently he has focused on Energy Policy at the national and European scopes. He has been regularly invited to address the subject of fossil fuel depletion publicly and regularly collaborates with the local press on the economics of energy and metals.

Luís most recent writings on resource depletion can be found in the blog AtTheEdgeOfTime.

Relevant articles:

World Oil Exports http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/10/5/215316/408 http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4179</a>
http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4184 http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4513</a>

A New Energy Policy for Europe http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/2169

Dialoguing with Dr. Peter Jackson CERA: Is the Future of Oil Resources Secure? http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/2283

From sweet on the table to fuel in the tank: the millenary history of Sugar Cane http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/2390

Marchetti’s Curves http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/2746

A few more thoughts on Saudi and HL http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/3100

Olduvai revisited 2008 http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/3565

IEA WEO 2008 - Fossil Fuel Ultimates and CO2 Emissions Scenarios http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4807

Energy Policy: SER-2 http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4942 http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4967 http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/5049

Planning for Europe’s Energy Future http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/6694