The EIA crude oil data for December 2010 have come out, giving us the total for 2010 which was practically on the same level as 2005, but the world paid US $80/barrel instead of $57, a 40% increase for getting the same amount of oil.
Push the economy to grow with a higher demand for oil and it gets more expensive. In the Olympic boom year 2008 annual production was at a similar level than in 2005 and 2010 but average prices were higher despite the GFC in the last quarter of that year.
Comparing the late 1990s with the last 10 years we note that a 12% increase of crude oil production from 66 mb/d to 74 mb/d had to be paid by a 4-fold increase of oil prices from $ 20/barrel to $80.
There was a record monthly peak of 74,795 Kb/d in December 2010, higher than December 2005 at 74,142 kb/d. However, that was the Katrina year and without that hurricane the December 2005 production would have been 74,730 kb/d as calculated in this October 2007 article:
Did Katrina Hide the Real Peak in World Oil Production?
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3052
With Arab unrest in North Africa and the Middle East there will be more events which will hide the oil-geological peak.
