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Peak Oil


When you pump oil, the easy stuff comes out first, after that it gets more like tar. Most fields outside the Middle East are already past their peak. Oil discoveries peaked in the 60s and we've now used about half the worlds oil. World oil production will soon start to decline.

Up until now, higher prices have always been met by more oil pumped. This wont be able to happen for much longer, so prices will continue to rise until people find ways to use less oil. Until then there will be shortages, much higher prices and growing international tension over remaining oil stocks. We are not facing the “end of oil”; it will be around for at least another 50 years. However, we are facing the end of cheap and abundant oil, on which our society has been built.

Solutions to peak oil are also part of the solution to climate change .

Read our energy policy

Latest News

Bollard confirms inflation now beyond control

23 Oct 2008

Today's Reserve Bank decision to cut interest rates by 1 percent when inflation is running the highest in 18 years confirms that the thinking behind monetary policy is obsolete, says the Green Party.

Transport Policy - Smart Moves

16 Oct 2008

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Peak oil and public transport: Cullen's revelation

02 Oct 2008

The Green Party have challenged Labour to redirect the billions of dollars earmarked for New Zealand's largest ever roading programme into public transport, following Dr Cullen's admission yesterday that people will choose public transport if it is provided and that Peak Oil is real.

NZ maps show who oil prices are hitting most

23 Sep 2008

Following a record US$25 spike in the price of a barrel of oil, Green Party Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons has released a series of city maps which show how well, or badly, New Zealand’s suburban populations are prepared for rising oil prices.

Climate Change Policy - Kicking the Carbon Habit

19 Sep 2008

At the moment runaway climate change is probably still preventable, but it will require a concerted effort from all governments, businesses and individuals to achieve this. We have a very short period of time in which to act. Although New Zealand produces a small proportion of global emissions, we have one of the highest per capita emissions in the world. As a signatory to the Kyoto protocol, we have a strong international and moral obligation to reduce our emissions.

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