The Difference Between Conventional & Unconventional Oil in One Chart

Recall from the Steven Kopits talk at Columbia that oil supply growth after 2005 is entirely leveraged on unconventional oil production. But why is this a problem? In short, it's because unconventional production is simply harder and more expensive than conventional production, as displayed in the infographic below from the Post Carbon Institute, based on this week's Bloomberg article "Dream of U.S. Oil Independence Slams Against Shale Costs"