IT NEVER IS: We Will Hit Peak Oil By 2030 But It’s Not What You Think.

In fact, they’re saying will hit “peak oil” by 2030, but it won’t be because our supply of oil won’t be increasing. It’s because they anticipate demand will plummet as electric cars become more and more enticing. Joel Couse, the chief energy economist for Total S.A.—one of the biggest oil companies in the entire world—told a Bloomberg conference that yes, the end is nigh:

The surge in battery powered vehicles will cause demand for oil-based fuels to peak in the 2030s, Total Chief Energy Economist Joel Couse said at Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s conference in New York on Tuesday. EVs will make up 15 percent to 30 percent of new vehicles by 2030, after which fuel “demand will flatten out,” Couse said. “Maybe even decline.”

And it’s not just Total S.A., either. The Bloomberg story notes that the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, Ben van Beurden, has given an even more aggressive estimate, with peak oil coming in the late 2020s.

I look forward to this new version of peak oil, when electric-car owners will make it possible for me to continue putting cheap diesel into my SUV.