The Oil Age: World Oil Production 1859 to 2050

Rob Bracken, Dave Menninger, Richard Katz, and Michael Poremba are co-founders of San Francisco Informatics, a California-based organization dedicated to “inspiring action with information.” They created The Oil Age chart to communicate the central role of fossil fuels – especially oil – in the rise and continuing existence of industrial civilization. Virtually everything we consider modern – from cars to air travel to plastics – depends on the empowering force of petroleum, the most energy-dense and versatile substance known to man. The Oil Age chart illuminates the history of oil from critical angles, charting its steady rise in production, mapping its geographical sources, and revealing its deep connection to socio-political events. The chart draws on a wide range of sources, including government statistics and the work of leading geologists such as Colin Campbell, whose oil depletion model forms the chart’s central image spanning most of the Oil Age – from 1859 to 2050. By displaying forecasts of oil’s peak and decline in the years ahead, the chart poses a difficult question: How will mankind deal with the inexorable depletion of one of its most valuable resources? To date, the chart has been distributed to every member of the U.S. Congress and donated to more than 2,500 teachers nationwide.

Bracken, Rob (Writer), Dave Menninger (Graphic Artist), Michael Poremba (Statistician), Richard Katz (Catalyst). 2006. The Oil Age: World Oil Production 1859-2050. San Francisco, CA. Courtesy of San Francisco Informatics. In Katy Börner & Julie M. Davis (Eds.), 3rd Iteration (2007): The Power of Forecasts, Places and Spaces: Mapping Science.