In this paper, a predictive model based on a variant of the multi-cyclic Hubbert approach is applied toforecast future trend in world fossil fuel production.Starting from historical data on oil (crude and NGL), natural gas, and coal production, and taking intoconsideration three possible scenarios for the global Ultimate (i.e. cumulative production plus remainingreserves plus undiscovered resources), this approach allowed us to determine when these importantenergy sources should peak and start to decline. In particular, considering the most likely scenarios,our estimated peak values were: 30 Gb/year in 2015 for oil, 132 Tcf/year in 2035 for natural gas, and4.5 Gtoe/year in 2052 for coal. A plateau is likely to occur in the case of natural gas, if the global Ultimateis high.A comparison of the Multi-Hubbert Variant (MHV) approach used in this paper with both the Single-cycle Hubbert (SH) and the ‘‘original’’ Multi-cyclic Hubbert (MH) approach has also been done.
