Does anyone really believe the world will run out of oil?

Question

Oil is abiotic, meaning it is created by the earth. not from the disentigration of "fossils"

Answer 1

By "oil", I assume you mean "petroleum".  But it doesn't matter.  For the sake of argument, let's consider all types of oil, not just petroleum.

Regardless of what or where oil comes from, at what rate do you suppose it is being produced?  And at what rate is it being consumed?

If it is being consumed faster than it is being produced (which, by all accounts, appears to be the case), then yes, if we continue this way we will "run out".  That is, we will exhaust the earth's stores of oil, after which we will have available only the "trickle" of oil that comes directly from immediate production.

Answer 2

Oil is dead matter broken down. Thats it. Its renewable, however, oil takes a while to completely form from dead matter. Its kinda involved with the cycle of life. :]

So we won't run out, per se. We just might temporarily lose most of it. xD

Thats my two cents

Answer 3

Oil is created through complex and very long term processes but it is ultimately organic. It is not created from 'fossils' but it did originate from living material, just like coal, our other 'fossil fuel'. If you get a chance to dig through a coal bed you'll find abundant fossils, mostly plants.

So yes, we will absolutely run out if we continue to use it at our ever increasing pace. However, economics will force us to find alternate methods to live before we actually use it all. Really rare commodities are too expensive to use on a large scale. Gold makes an excellent conductor of electricity but you don't see it strung between cities on high voltage lines since it costs >$800 an ounce. Those wires are made from aluminum. Once oil costs $1000 a barrel you can bet we'll find another way to get around, even if it's by foot.

Answer 4

The Earth is finite in size, so how could we *not* run out of oil? Can you find any evidence that we're creating new oil faster than we're using it?

Even though the US's consumption might be going down, China has 1.3 billion people, and they're putting something like 800,000 new cars on the road every year. Then there's India and dozens of other developing countries trying to attain our standard of living.

Answer 5

hello,

Yes!!! Oil is a non-renewable material.

Explanation!!

A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be re-made, re-grown or regenerated on a scale comparative to its consumption. It exists in a fixed amount that is being consumed or used up faster than it can be made by nature. Fossil fuels (such as coal, petroleum and natural gas) and nuclear power are non-renewable resources, as they do not naturally re-form at a rate that makes the way we use them sustainable and consumer materials to produce electricity. A renewable resource differs in that it may be used but not used up. This is as opposed to natural resources such as timber, which re-grows naturally and can, in theory, be harvested sustainably at a constant rate without depleting the existing resource pool and resources such as metals, which, although they are not replenished, are not destroyed when used and can be recycled. It is a resource that can not be re-used

A non-renewable resource is always drawn down with anabolic processes that use up energy.

bye...

Answer 6

Yes, I think most people know that we will run out of oil.  I don't know where you got the idea that it is created from the Earth abiotically.  It is a combination of hydrocarbons.  It is created within the Earth, but you have to have plant and animal remains as raw material to create hydrocarbons.  The raw materials don't come from minerals.

Petroleum, which is the fluid form in which oil is transported, forms when organic life, both plant and animal, dies and is buried by sediment. As a result of the sediment overburden covering it, the organic matter becomes pressurized and heated over time, in an anoxic environment. In the presence of bacteria, the structure of the molecules of these dead plants and animals change, forming hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons are what we come to know as oil and gas.

The creation of hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas) from biogenic processes is ongoing, that is, it is still occurring but slowly. The process takes long enough that we can't measure it in our lifetimes, so we don't know exactly how long it takes but it is in the order of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, depending on the burial and thermal history of the geologic basin it accumulates in.

Answer 7

We will run out....maybe even in our lifetime

Answer 8

Simple economics.  If supply cant meet the demand, then yes, oil will run out.  There is NOT an endless supply of anything.  There are too many people.  You wanna reduce the consumption, you have to reduce the consumers.  Humans are a cancer on Earth.