I don't belive in peak oil anymore...I doubt oil will ever run out...Am I halfway right?

Question

Since the 70's oil has been "running out"...and now it's 2008 and oil is still "running out", I just really can't get my head around peak oil, if it was really happening then I wouldn't see more cars than I have EVER seen on country roads, interstates, and city streets...I took a trip to cincinatti today and if someone said that americans now drive substantially less than they did before, they might drive less, but there are 10x more people driving on the roads...

I just hate when other people try to scare people with dooms-day c**p, (at least it could make sence if you are trying to scare people)...peak oil just makes no sence in the first place...

But is it real in your opinion? Please say why so I can get it off my mind....

Answer 1

I think a lot of us think as you do.  IF the oil reserves dry up it won't be in your or my lifetimes.  I think there is plenty to go around and they are just messing with our heads.  (and wallets).

Answer 2

Oil is a finite resource, it took millions of years to make, and while it may not run out in your lifetime, its not renewable.

So yes, it will run out at some time in the future.

First they took the easiest oil to get, then they went into the kind that takes more money to get out, now they are talking about reclaiming shale oil.  That's some pretty expensive reclaiming methods that they need to do to extract the oil from the shale. So that oil will be more expensive than either offshore or drilled oil.  We will be paying even more for that than now.

In China there is considerably more auto traffic than there has ever been before, and they will be wanting even more oil, driving up prices even more as supplies become more expensive.  Since neither China or Japan has oil of their own, you can look for them to find an alternative while we are talking about selling more leases to oil companies.

We think too much about oil and not enough about alternate energies.  That's not sensible given the fact that it makes us vulnerable to fluctuations in availability and affordability.

Its not doomsday thinking to look for an alternative or a synthetic, its just practical.

Answer 3

Theres alot more out there than the Enviro-freaks and the Oil Companies want you to know.

Answer 4

There are a lot of seriously unstudied answers on here. Yes, Brazil has found offshore oil - just check it out against the world's consumption. a) It will be minimum 5 years before they start pumping and b) If it were the only field in production it would be GONE, EMPTY in 8 months!

The UK and Norway carved up the North Sea - discovered way back in the 1960s. UK peaked in 1999, Norway shortly after (2001?). It's GONE - production is a mere 40% or so of what it was at its peak.

Cantarell (Mexico) is in serious decline - it's GONE! They will soon stop exporting, just to have a bit left for themselves.

Ghawar is probably just past peak - it is light, sweet crude. Yes, the Saudis can replace it - with heavy, sour crude that no one wants.

Millions of barrels a day is what we are talking about - and the US uses 25% of it. Get real, people - it's over. Get on your bikes and start growing your own food.

OP, you are not halfway right, you are halfway (and a bit) wrong.

Answer 5

You are not alone in your feelings about the sources of crude oil.  The scientific community has a major split concerning the origins of oil and whether or not the concept of 'peak oil' is valid and that maybe abiotic oil is the more correct theory.

Abiotic Oil

Addressing the theory in circulation that oil is not solely of organic origin, but that there may be another mode of origin as well from deeper in the crust, involving magma.

There is a substantial body of evidence to support this theory.  That does not negate, however, the quest for getting away from dependence on fossil fuels.  The greenhouse gasses produced by the burning of such will continue to be a pressing matter that must be addressed.  Now that the world has achieved a consciousness about how we treat our planet, this news that we are not so far from depleting our oil reserves is a welcome breath of fresh air, removing some of the panic effect that can foster unrest.



Supporting Evidence, Briefly

•Oil being discovered at 30,000 feet, far below the 18,000 feet where organic matter is no longer found.

•Wells pumped dry later replenished.

•Volume of oil pumped thus far not accountable from organic material alone according to present models.

•In Situ production of methane under the conditions that exist in the Earth's upper mantle.

One site for further information on this topic is:

http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Theo...

Another, and possibly better site is:

http://www.rense.com/general58/biot.htm

Whichever theory is more correct, within the borders of the United States (inclusive of off shore oil reserves) the known reserves of crude oil to drill for, plus the shale oil, plus sand oil, have reserves of at least 200 years.  

If we view this as sources of energy and then include coal and natural gas, there is energy far beyond such time limits.

If we then include water generated electric, wind generated electric, tidal generated electric, organic sources such as ethanol, and then solar panel electric, and nuclear, we should not be having any energy limitations now or for far beyond two hundred years.

Certainly there is more than enough energy sources to care for all of our needs as new concepts are developed such as hydrogen from water.  Who knows maybe the Nickola Tesla concepts of energy sources will finally be looked at and all limitations will disappear.

The idea that oil is finite and will run out soon many (in the not too distant future) be view as some quaint idea that went the way of the flat worlders.

Answer 6

you are 100% correct we havent even discovered .0095% of the worlds oil

Answer 7

You are correct - there is no such thing as peak oil- oil will never run out- The Prodhoe bay area in Alaska has enough oil to power the US, even it was the only source of oil the US had, for 200 years , even after factoring the growth rate- The booger bear of running out of oil is repeated by the oil companies and those that get rich off them so they can continue robbing the consumer- the oil companies should be nationalized just like the mid east did and Chavez did in Venezuela. Their gas is under 20c per gallon and the gas in Iraq was 7 cents a gallon , prior to our invasion- these prices are the difference between the booger bear theory of big oil and a situation that exists where big oil no longer can cower the government and it's citizens. I say we nationalize the oil companies now, before they destroy America, and take back our country!

Answer 8

How much oil the Saudi's have left is a state secret. It can't last forever - nothing does!

I read somewhere China has bought 34 x as much as they need before the Olympics, just in case...

Oil is the fuel of the 20th Century, we should invest in new sources of fuel, before oil runs low and gets very expensive. Actually, new technology could lower the price of oil. So far, we mainly conserve energy. I am sure there is another, better energy source, right in front of our noses, we just have to "discover" what it is.

Answer 9

As the price increases to conform to worldwide market demand oil that was not economically feasible to explore and develop becomes market oil.  The big find off Brazil and the work off the western coast of Africa argues against "peak oil."  The Green Movement is frightening the people of this country.  The "demand destruction" offset to higher prices ignores the inelastic demand for oil and gasoline.  Why the public allows the Green crowd to dictate via Congress that no more drilling will allowed in virgin lands is a nightmare.  I think common sense will dictate a McCain administration that will drill where necessary in spite of current opposition to ANWR.   That is another story.  You are right people have been frightened.  Worse than that these elementary teachers in the public school are frightening the death out  a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds.  Just old enough to get the scare without questioning the elementary teacher who knows nothing of the topic.  Just a mouthpiece for the liberal teachers union.  It is a national shame.

Answer 10

The term peak oil is generally used to describe a decline in the world wide production of oil. This seems to be happening now as the supply and demand phenomena due to Americans in general have begun to reduce their use of gas. However the current problems seems to be the results of oil speculators who purchased barrels of oil only to sell the barrels of oil only to sell them at a higher price. The decline in price of oil may be a temporary situation but if is not this will have a domino effect in reduction of all the goods that have risen in prices due to the supply of oil and gas. Currently Canada is largest exports the largest amount of heavy oil to the United States.

Answer 11

Oil will peak someday but not as near as people think....most of the US coastline is unexplored for environmental reasons. Most governments would like to keep their reserves somewhat of a secret so they can buy other oil until it's gone and then tap their own at the last possible time when the price is highest and for national security reasons Peak oil is also based on proven reserves which can change as new fields are found..

http://www.reformation.org/energy-non-cr...

Watch the eight videos in this series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbakN7SLd...

Answer 12

you are halfway wrong.

Answer 13

You are right. There is plenty of oil at the moment, much of it untapped. The problem is the demand for oil is greater than the rate it is being pumped out of the ground and that is driving the price up. Some day oil will run out, which is why we need to develop bio and renewable fuels now.

Answer 14

Check out the theory of abiotic oil.

Answer 15

A report came out last year (and has been silenced by the oil companies) that "fossil fuel" really is from fossils. It comes from a layer of strata below the fossils and percolates up.  In the gulf of Mexico an oil field was pumped dry - which started the whole "running out of oil" scare.  That oil field was recently checked and it is again full.  We are NOT running out of oil.

Back in WWII no country would sell Germany oil for their military so Hitler built refineries that extract oil from coal.  With the price of oil under $30 bbl, it was not cost effective at that time for the US to do the same.  Now that it is over $100 bbl it is VERY cost effective.  The US has 250 yrs worth of coal they can extract oil from.  The oil is processed, NOT BURNED.  It is a clean process (although the oil companies are trying to say different).  There is NO legitimate reason for us to be paying more than $35 bbl for oil.

The real reasons we are paying so much is:

1) The oil companies love their multi-billion dollar profits

2) The govt. loves the tax revenue from the multi-billion profits

3) OPEC is trying to bankrupt the US (OPEC is predominantly Muslim nations along with Hugo Chavez of Venezuala)

4) The environmentalists want higher prices to discourage driving (the whole global warming thing)

Follow the $$.

Answer 16

Many Geologists are now saying that we have not discovered anywhere near all the oil underground.  I believe the experts not the pundunts.

Best wishes. ♥ ∞

Answer 17

There is definetely a finite amount of the stuff.  If there was an unlimited supply of oil it would be virtually free.  However, there is a lot more than some people think.  There are over 300,000,000,000 barrells in the great basin region of the United States alone.  Not to mention off coast drilling (which for some reason the Dems don't want us to do), and ANWR.

Answer 18

No were not running out of oil, its all supply and demand, they know that there is a huge demand so they say that we dint have enough and that drives up the prices, and there is nothing that we can do about it, I think that it is time we all face the music and see that America is the least free country in the world because everything that happens has some tie to the government and how it is run

Example: The Bushes and the oil companies.

Answer 19

If you understand the theory, why would you question it? Your argument is that 10x more people are driving on the road. My experience riding bus transit is that many buses are now standing room only, and this has been getting worse over the past 4 years.

Hubbert's Peak Theory applies to any resource, "peak oil" happens to be specfic to oil.  The theory seems to explain the rise in oil prices and the conflict in the Middle East.

For those unfamiliar with this idea, it simply states that there is a point time (typically when about half the world's oil is depleted) when we are unable to produce more oil than the previous year because the richest and most accessible oil fields become exhausted. This theory really isn't questioned by experts and even d**k Cheney and the oil companies have talked about it.

Although it's an uncomfortable idea for Detroit and the Airlines and manufacturing and transportion industries, it appears to be the case. We can expect prices to double, some pessimists think it will double every 18 months. However, even the oil companies admit it will happen by 2010 if it hasn't happened already. Mass media is attempting to sell these gas-gusling dinosaurs of cars, so don't expect them to talk about "peak oil." The media is driven by short-term profits and avoid any topics that go against the interests of their corporate sponsors.

It's imporant to work with your feelings, but it's usually best to think with your good brain.

Answer 20

Oil is not a fossil fuel but abiotic and not the product of long decayed biological matter. And oil, for better or for worse, is not a non-renewable resource. It, like coal, and natural gas, replenishes from sources forever within the mantle of earth.

The world is awash in oil. Louisianna has some of the biggest oil reserves. So attacking Iraq and Iran for oil is only to control it and keep it off the markets to increase cost and bilk the consumer.

Answer 21

You may be half right but in the end nothing last forever

Coal is going to last a long time and there is nuclear power

but oil is going to bue used up in 200 years so we are more

then half way there.  

The population is 9 billion people and it will increase even

more and the Chinese demand for oil in ten years will equal

all the oil consumed in one year by the world in one year

So I think there is a good chance the oil production has

peaked.  Oil is the lifeblood of the world and it took 100's of

thousands of year to make ...so the production of oil could

have peaked.

Answer 22

Point 1: Yes, we have been running out of oil ever since we first started drilling. Just like you were dying starting with the day you were born.

Point 2: Yes, peak oil is real. Unless you believe petroleum is a renewable energy, and doesn't take millions of years for nature to create like every other rational thinker knows. It eventually will be "half gone" and oil production will be on the decline. That is peak oil.

The key thing to remember is that we will never run out of oil. Long before that could happen we will reach a point where the cost of producing petroleum is too expensive to be of any value. So yes, you were half-right.

Answer 23

There isn't unlimited oil (There's still enough to last for maybe half a century), but as the consumption increases more is produced.

Answer 24

You are half right.  We are half way to the end of all oil on Earth.

The problem is that the easy half has been used.  Now the difficult half is two miles deep in the ocean, in the Arctic and other impossible places.  That's one good reason why oil is over $100 a bbl.