Final answer:
Marion King Hubbert, working for Shell Oil in 1956, released an influential report to the American Petroleum Institute, leading to the concept of Peak Oil Theory, forecasting that U.S. oil production would peak by 1970 and global production fifty years later.
Step-by-step explanation:
The important report on rock oil, or petroleum, was released by Marion King Hubbert, an American geophysicist working for Shell Oil. In 1956, he presented a research paper to the American Petroleum Institute, predicting that U.S. crude oil production would peak between 1965 and 1970, a concept now known as Hubbert's Peak Oil Theory. The report was a critical development, forecasting the behavior of oil production in the United States and, by implication, globally. Hubbert also suggested that global oil production would reach its peak about fifty years from the time of his presentation, a prediction that appears to have been borne out by subsequent production data.
Additionally, the report highlights the history of oil discoveries and peaks in the United States, such as the discovery of oil in the 1950s and its production peak in the 1970s, the Prudhoe Bay oil discovery in Alaska, and the influence these events had on the search for more resources.