Posted on 01/08/2010 3:28:38 PM PST by Faketan
One nagging question that the industrial world has been asking itself since the discovery of the first oil well is what happens when the wells begin to run dry. The answer is relatively simple to imagine. We had a dry run, so to speak, when Dubai’s economy tanked a few years ago. And although the causes of Dubai’s ills and ails were financial and not oil related, the drama which unfolded gave us a watered-down version of what might transpire if and when the oil wells stop producing.
But before we run the Armageddon tape that the world will stop functioning because of lack of oil, let’s all take a deep breath and think again. The oil companies, the people who manufacture cars and airplanes and legions of scientists and inventors have all been planning for that day. And as far-fetched as it might seem to some of us, that day will undoubtedly come, very probably within our lifetime.
So what is likely to happen? First, the car manufacturers and people who build commercial aircrafts, the two largest consumers of fossil fuels have no doubt plans on what their next generation models will look like and what they will run on. Already some car manufacturers are producing hybrid cars that run partially on electricity. What will transpire will be a massive turn to nuclear energy. It may not be the safest of energies, however nuclear energy remains the cleanest. Or perhaps solar and wind.
So your average American will still be able to drive to the drive-thru bank and restaurant. The above average Chinese will still be able to afford his car and the average European will still be able to enjoy Sunday outings with Grandma sitting in the back seat between the bambinos.
What will change – and drastically so – will be the social-economic face of much of the oil producing countries as well as other nations, where overnight tens of thousands of workers will find themselves suddenly unemployed, broke, and with practically no prospects for any future whatsoever. And herewith lies the danger of a social eruption of near Biblical proportions. Think if you will of the ripple effect that would occur if one of the major oil producers stopped producing.
Take the United Arab Emirates (UAE) one of the major oil-producing states in the Gulf where the local population is outnumbered five-to one. Out of a population of some 4.8 million less than 20 % are nationals of the country; and even among the nationals, a good percentage very probably hail from other neighboring countries, such as Palestine, Lebanon or other countries in the region. The bulk of the population -- a whopping 50 percent -- are from the Indian sub-continent; from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Balouchistan or from Iran and Afghanistan.
The same holds true in the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council states; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman.
Rest of article at: Full article at: Oil Wells Run Dry
When I was in college in the early 1970's, ALL the science classes that I attended had an obligatory screed that oil was going to run out by the end of the decade - there just wasn't anymore to be found.
It does seem that there is more and more evidence that oil is created by an abiotic process of methane percolating from the earth's core into its mantle/crust. I find it unconvincing that all those dead dinosaurs and their plants found their way down 7 miles to undergo a chemical change that is yet to be recreated in the lab. Places like the La Brea Tar Pits also pose a bit of a conundrum to the biotic oil folks..
I hope that in appreciation for the FRee FReducation you just received you will click on the donation link and help keep FR going. Thank you! ;-)
More junk science perpetuated by liars w/an agenda. What was it, in the 70s where we were headed for another ice age because the smog would blot out the sun’s rays? Now it’s global warming?
More Americans have died in Ted Kennedy's car than have died from generating nuclear power.
Well when oil wells runs there are vast reserves of coal and oil shale to process and after that there is nuclear growing algae in farms. So all this “no oil” baloney is just baloney.
And as far-fetched as it might seem to some of us, that day will undoubtedly come, very probably within our lifetime
Yeah, if you live to somewhere between 200 and 300.
In 1914, the Bureau of Mines said U.S. oil reserves would be exhausted by 1924. In 1939, the Interior Department said the world had 13 years worth of petroleum reserves. Then a global war was fought and the postwar boom was fueled, and in 1951 Interior reported that the world had ... 13 years of reserves. In 1970, the world’s proven oil reserves were an estimated 612 billion barrels. By 2006, more than 767 billion barrels had been pumped and proven reserves were 1.2 trillion barrels. In 1977, Scold in Chief Jimmy Carter predicted that mankind “could use up all the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.” Since then the world has consumed three times more oil than was then in the world’s proven reserves.
We will never, ever run out of oil. If you were the owner of the last barrels of oil on the planet, would you set them on fire for fuel?
Read the following.
In 1914, the Bureau of Mines said U.S. oil reserves would be exhausted by 1924. In 1939, the Interior Department said the world had 13 years worth of petroleum reserves. Then a global war was fought and the postwar boom was fueled, and in 1951 Interior reported that the world had ... 13 years of reserves. In 1970, the world’s proven oil reserves were an estimated 612 billion barrels. By 2006, more than 767 billion barrels had been pumped and proven reserves were 1.2 trillion barrels. In 1977, Scold in Chief Jimmy Carter predicted that mankind “could use up all the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.” Since then the world has consumed three times more oil than was then in the world’s proven reserves.
How long is forever?
Oil will be here forever!
Coal will be here forever!
We will not be here forever!!
Can't wait until bureaucrats are deciding what medical procedures we can have. /s
In the last 24 months the US supply of natural gas has increased from 10 years to 100 years because of new technologies, new methods for exraction, & new gas field discoveries in the USA.
Basically the answer to oil problems is gas for the USA.
Take the United Arab Emirates (UAE) one of the major oil-producing states in the Gulf where the local population is outnumbered five-to one. Out of a population of some 4.8 million less than 20 % are nationals of the country; and even among the nationals, a good percentage very probably hail from other neighboring countries, such as Palestine, Lebanon or other countries in the region. The bulk of the population -- a whopping 50 percent -- are from the Indian sub-continent; from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Balouchistan or from Iran and Afghanistan. The same holds true in the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council states; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman.IOW, the problem isn't in the oil, it's in who controls it. Drill the ANWR.
I have a saying. “He who has the last barrel of oil will rule the world.” I would rather use Russia’s oil first.
oil won’t run out unless politics makes it unavailable!
Yes, not only that...
Oil supply is measured in “economically recoverable” oil. As the price of oil goes up, it becomes profitable to go after oil which is not currently profitable to go after. As that happens, the amount of economically recoverable oil increases exponentially. Let alone the fact that we only know of the “economically unrecoverable” we chanced apon, since who looks for economically unrecoverable oil?
Who says demand is going to consistantly increase? We’ve got falling populations now.
When the day comes when fusion reactors are the norm this will all be moot.
True, Fusion is so much better. Can’t wait till it happens!
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