Folks,

News is just reaching the peak oil world that Dr. Ali Morteza Samsam Bakhtiari, former senior expert to the Iranian national oil company and a member of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre passed away last month at the age of 61. At this point I have found no information on the cause of death, or why it took three weeks for the news to reach us.

As my longtime readers know, he was one of my very favorite commentators, with a deep understanding of petroleum geology and a fine capacity for insight and the well-turned phrase. I shall greatly miss his contributions to the world dialogue on energy.

For those who aren’t aware of his work, here are a few things to explore.

Dr. Ali Bakhtiari’s Four Phases of Transition

Other GRL ariticles mentioning his comments

A “personal clarification” on his affiliation with the peak oil community at his Web site

A thread on TheOilDrum about it.

A short 2004 commentary on himself from here:

Dear Barbara,

First and foremost, thank you for your best wishes for the future of Iran and the very brave Iranian people. They deserve it.

Secondly, allow me to correct a misconception: I am not an eminent NIOC personality. The present company officials simply detest me (all of ‘them’) and are doing their utmost to have me quit (after 33 years of service, mainly not to pay me my final bonus and retirement); they certainly couldn’t care less about ‘peak oil’ — and this is as far I can go in a public forum. I leave it to your imagination to envision the rest…

1) I really don’t know how it came about that I am the only OPEC (and Middle Eastern) expert on
‘peak oil’. Certainly neither political leaders nor company officials ever guided or encouraged me unto this path (to the contrary). I kind of stumbled on Dr. Campbell’s work in 1995 (his days at PetroConsultants) and since … I have come all this long way (thanks mainly to the Internet). I still have to take from my personal yearly leave of absence and find a sponsor in order to be able attend international conferences. I finance part of my research out of “Letter from Tehran” income.

2) I really don’t know why I am so singular within OPEC (although I am not a very common individual, with a eventful past). Maybe the others are told to shut up and do so for their own good (and benefits). I will always speak out.

Well, I hope you were able to read between the lines, because although none of ‘them’ speaks or reads English, someone (among the Western puppet-masters) might call ‘them’ to attention. Now, the seemingly apparent contradictions might be beginning to make some sense.”