[umgud]

Good thing someone didn't invent the internal combustion engine in the 1700's...........

If they had, we'd have run out much sooner and would now be back to the horse and buggy.9?Luddite)

[operation clinton cleanup]

I am to young to remember, but horses taking a dump all over the place could not have been an environmentalists paradise!

[donmeaker]

The important thing is that reserves only extend 20 years ahead of time. There is no incentive to spend money now to find oil that you will need 21 years in the future. There is an incentive to spend money to find oil that you will need 10 years from now.

That is why for the last 80 years we have between 10 and 20 years of proven oil reserves, and will probably have 10 to 20 years of reserves for the next 80 years.

Coal can be hydrogenated to produce oil, but that doesn't count towards oil reserves.