Meh, haven't one of the big companies just found massive untapped oil reserves?
Technically it's classified as a 'big' find however compared to the largest in the world it's drop in the ocean, those are classified as 'giant' finds. For example the BP find you are talking about is about 3 billion barrels, which is severely big, however the Ghawar field in saudi arabia is about 80 billion.
I think there are 2 separate discussions really, i don't believe the era of oil is anywhere close to ending, there is still plenty in the ground waiting to be extracted. However it is the end of cheap oil, whats left is very expensive to develop, the giant middle east fields are produced at about $2 a barrel, compare that with recent finds in brazil and canada that are only cost effective when oil is over $70 a barrel.
It's just something we'll have to live with, alternative fuels just can't meet the demand of the modern world, there is oil available but the cost of production will have to be transferred into higher oil costs...it's just a fact of life that when something gets more expensive to find, it gets more expensive for anyone involved in the chain.
The big question in the industry is not about peak oil, it's about peak supply, there is a limit on how much oil can be produced per day and it's one we're going to hit very soon, which is going to be a painful jolt to many countries who are growing their economy on the back of subsidised oil.
