Remember those long holiday road trips where the question endlessly repeated was “are we there yet”? Well, for many in the peak oil community, waiting for it to arrive has evoked a similar feeling, as the predictions of some academics, commentators, and bloggers have failed to materialize punctually. So, it’s worth revisiting some thoughtful papers that reveal a more sophisticated approach to timing the peak date. This may give people a greater appreciation of the challenges of predicting such a complex event. Various mathematical models have been evoked to relate production to estimations of the total amount of oil that can be extracted, also known as the ultimately recoverable resource (URR). These include linear, exponential and, most famously, Hubbert’s logistical model. Attempts have been made to determine the best fit of these models to historical production. However, in terms of prediction, none are necessarily more correct than the others. […]