Is the world really running out of oil??

Question

I'm just not sure I believe that it isn't just way to get more money.

Is there any proof either way?

Answer 1

yes and yes. we are running out of oil just as we always have. there is still a gigantic supply of oil and even more that hasn't been discovered yet but we will eventually run out absolutely. i don't know how true it is but i have seen on t.v. that American has enough oil right now to keep Americans going at the same rate for 250 yrs... but we continue to use it the price will be crazy when the supply does run low. there is not a never ending supply and thanks to that i would like to see a change it is cool to think about.. about global warming if you haven't seen inconvenient truth by AL Gore it is the most believable to me and scary too.

Answer 2

yes we are running out of oil. demand is rising as supply is leveling off leading to higher prices and eventually us running out of oil.

global warming is happening, it wont cause anything dramatic like ice ages or heat waves it will just lead to higher temperatures which can lead to other problems.

there is alot of studies on the effects of global warming and most of them agree with the IPCC report. (here is a summary)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPCC_Fourth...

Answer 3

We lost the political will to get the oil.  If the desire was there we would still have over a 200 year supply.

Answer 4

Absolutely, look back in the History books, we have been running out since the 1900s and always within a 20 yr. time frame, but, we'll never run out of grease which is what our politicians run on.

Answer 5

No, we are not running out of oil.  You're right, it is a way for the devious OPEC cartel (not to mention our president-tied to oil since he was born) to grab more of your money.  Google oil as fossil fuels.  You will find that it is Not a fossil fuel. The proof?  The deepest fossil bones have been found is at half the depth of oil.  The most likely theory is that oil comes from natural earth magma processes.  As for Global Warming, it's another scam.  What we need to worry about is keeping earth inhabitable by humans.  EPA allows polluters to put benzenes, mercury, etc. in exchange for buying "pollution credits" from those that have installed scrubbers and put out less crud, or by crushing old classic cars that are supposedly bad polluters. The real worry is erosion, which creates sand dunes that heat up the Earth - and most erosion IS man made.

Answer 6

First, oil.

The proof is that the increase in new supplies every year is less than the increase in new demand.  Slowly we're falling backwards, which is why it keeps getting more expensive.  It won't run out, but it will keep getting more expensive and we'll start using something else.

Global warming.  Way too much proof that this is true and mostly caused by us for here.  Here's a place to look especially for you:

"for those who are not sure what to believe, here is our round-up of the 26 most common climate myths and misconceptions"

http://environment.newscientist.com/chan...

It's 26 pages.  This is not something you can decide about quickly, it takes study.

Answer 7

yes the world is continously running out of oil. the first proof is constant rising of oil products, second is the rise of alternative fuels, and third is the us economy's down fall (I think)

Answer 8

Yes we are.  Oil is a limited resource, but don't be scared.  I've heard 7, 15, 30, 100 years.  Who knows who's right? Peak oil is a theory used to scare people.  Oil is only a small part of our energy future.  There are several options that will compete for use within the next few years.

Answer 9

"Petroleum is found in porous rock formations in the upper strata of some areas of the Earth's crust. There is also petroleum in oil sands (tar sands). Known reserves of petroleum are typically estimated at around 140 km³ (1.2 trillion barrels) without oil sands [4], or 440 km³ (3.74 trillion barrels) with oil sands [5]. However, oil production from oil sands is currently severely limited. Consumption is currently around 84 million barrels per day, or 3.6 km³ per year. Because of reservoir engineering difficulties, recoverable oil reserves are significantly less than total oil-in-place. At current consumption levels, and assuming that oil will be consumed only from reservoirs, known reserves would be gone around 2039, potentially leading to a global energy crisis. However, this ignores any new discoveries; rapidly increasing consumption in China, India, and other developing nations; using oil sands, using synthetic petroleum, and other factors which may extend or reduce this estimate."

Furthermore I remember learning that it takes a long time for oil to form, somewhere in the range of thousands of years. It's not like trees which grow relatively quickly and can be planted. Do you still think it's a lie?

As for global warming you need to do your own research and decide for yourself. Most unbiased and intelligent people I talk to agree that global warming is happening and is caused by us. Personally I think it naive to imagine that all the fossil fuels we put into the atmosphere and all the trees we cut down isnot negatively effecting our environment. Don't believe the c**p you hear from the Bush Administration and certain oil companies like Exxon that there is no proof out there. While there are differences of opinion on the details, the basic fact remains. Global warming is happening and it's the result of pollution. Wikipedia has a great long article on this with charts and detailed citations.

We need to research new energy technologies!!!

Answer 10

Yes. When stone age man was running around there was a certain amount of oil under his feet. A few thousand years later modern man began to pump it out of the ground and as soon as he started, it started to run out (simply because there was a fixed amount available). If you imagine the world once had a large barrel full of oil and we started taking it away with a spoon, then one day we'd find the barrel half empty (or half full). It's taken a hundred years, but some say that's where we are now. The problem is that there are now hundreds of people with hundreds of spoons (in India and China, etc.) who are also emptying the same barrel so that's why the price is rising so rapidly - simple supply and demand. Many serious academics and observers are wondering how long it will be before oil becomes so depleted and expensive that the ordinary man in the street will not be able to afford it (to run his car / automobile, for example).

Global warming is a scientific fact. The climate is changing in different ways in different parts of the world causing desertification / flooding / drought / crop failure so that many people are having to move to different areas of their country or even to other countries. It's a much more difficult and complicated subject than oil and it will affect our children and grandchildren more than it will affect us (in the affluent first world, at least) but paradoxically, moving to new and "green" energy sources as the oil runs out will to a small degree mitigate the effects of global warming.

Combine the oil and global warming scenarios and we're definitely looking at a different type of world in the future. Just what sort of world depends upon what we do now.

As for proof, well the oil situation is common sense, and the consensus in the scientific community about Global Warming is now overwhelming.

Answer 11

I can say yes

Answer 12

Emphatically, NO !! "They" just want you to believe that, and scare you....again...like the homeland security color codes, so the car makers can make more expensive vehicular conveyences....more oil is being produced by pressure under the surface of the earth where all the ingredients are being "cooked" on a regular basis to make oil- at steady pressure and temperature- like a passive solar house, thanks to father earth !  See ? THAT was easy ! so, new oil is constantly be produced, and we just need to tap into it, besides, proof is, car makers know this, and, that is WHY more cars are being made, silly !  They are making cars because they KNOW there is new oil ready to be pumped all the time.  Now, rest easy, and drive, drive, drive 'til your little heart's content !  ;^)

Answer 13

The Earth's resources are finite, so yes, they are running out.  Think of it as the food in your larder.  If you have a jar of coffee and you keep having a drink of the said coffee then eventually it will run out if you don't go and get a new one from the shops...well that is what is happening to the oil...and natural gas.  We are all dipping into that larder and there is no way to replace it...so eventually it will all be gone....but I can't tell you when.

I can't give you a perfect answer as to global warming because I am not a scientist...I just see what is happening with my own eyes and to me, one of the worst things to be happening is that all the world's rain forests are being decimated.  They are the lungs of the earth and without those then we cannot get rid off all the carbon dioxide that we are producing by using all the fossil fuels.... and that is what is having an effect on global warming...

(the trees take in the carbon dioxide and replace it with oxygen)

Answer 14

Yes. The world is using oil, and always has, faster than the earth produces new.  So eventually, we will run out.  Proof?  How about our continual never-ending search for it?  Also, as the resource is depleted the cost of obtaining it gets higher.  Auto companies aren't now making cars which can run on alternative fuels just for the fun of it.

Answer 15

lol of course it is! Where do you think oil comes from? Millions of years of compressing biological material! We're using in less than millions of years of I think...

There is a lot left but naturally we're running out. I wouldnt worry though there are other viable options that will come into play when we need them :)

Sorry I had to come back and say what a load of rubbish from 'robzon', it actually made me laugh reading it!! Oil isn't a fossil fuel??? lol! Its made from carbon!! Carbon from plants about 200millions years ago, especially during the carboniferous era. They have been crushed through heat and pressure to make oil. Obviously fossil bones would be higher up in the lithosphere because they won't have experienced enough presssure to change their chemical form!!

Oil comes from lava?!? How?! Compare their relative chemical properties and tell me!

lol @ conspiracy hunters! :)

Answer 16

We-ell They (news papers and those that "predict") are telling us yes, but logically when the oil was formed and put into pockets, like money if you keep using it, it will disappear

Answer 17

yes at present consumption rate in 30 years its gone. all the easy to get at oil is already gone. whats left for new fields is ANWR and farther into the arctic ocean which wasn't accessible till the ice started melting.

If it's not running out then why is the Alaskan pipeline running at >50% capacity? why did the state of Alaska put on the ballot a measure to fund a new pipeline for Natural gas? It passed by the way by a huge margin the residents had a choice new pipeline for a new source of revenue or no more free money and they'll have to start paying taxes. wells start producing gas in abundance when the crude is running out.

Answer 18

IMMEDIATELY INVENT AND EXPLORE,  'ALTERNATE ENERGIES...................'.

Answer 19

No grasshopper.

Answer 20

No, there are billions of gallons still around. The problem mainly stems from drilling it.

The US alone has billions of untaped resources. unfortunately, wacky environmentalist have made it very difficult to drill on our own soil. An interesting item, around Florida, we can not drill with in about 150 miles from shore (not sure exact number). However, Cuba is talking about drilling in international waters of Florida's coast, which is about 40 miles. So they will be drilling closer to our shores than we can.

Also, it is interesting that the environmentalist have caused much of the CO2 increase by effectivelly baning nuclear plants in the US. Remember back in the 70's and 80's? They made building nuclear so expensive that very few have been built in the last 30 years. Other countries like France are way in front of us.

Answer 21

There are plenty of untapped oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately environmentalist dont' want America companies exploring there, so it is starting to be tapped off by Cuba. The US also has largely unexplored oil reserves in Alaska that are blocked from exploration for the same reason. Oil Shales are a major source of Canadian oil, and we have some of the largest oil shale locations in the world, but once again, environmentalists don't want them being explored. Add to that the problem that environmentalists have blocked the building of new refineries-which means that every time the seasons change and a new fuel mixture is required, the lines have to be bled to feed ethanol into the fuel. Ethanol from corn sources cuts fuel efficiency by 15%-unlike sugar cane ethanol used in South America. Using corn to create fuel has raised the price of corn-a major animal livestock feed-raising in turn the price of poultry, beef, pork and dairy products. Once again, this was pushed through by folks claiming it would help the environment. Are you catching the theme here?

Answer 22

Easily accessible oil is running out, but new technologies are improving every day.  For cars, we electric power and hydrogen.  In a few more years, perhaps better technologies.  For homes we have solar power, wind power and even garbage power.

As for heating up and cooling down, there's debate on this.  A moderate theory is that the Earth has a natural cycle of heating and cooling, but that human influence has accelerated this process.

In general, as heat melts the ice, and the ice mixes with the sea water, it causes changes to currents, the temperature of the air above the sea, and other things.  These changes can result in a cooling period.  When the Earth reaches a certain point of cooling, the reflection of the sunlight off of the ice, as well as other factors, contribute to a warming trend.

So I've read, anyway.

Answer 23

Yes, and it's running out faster every day, we keep putting ever more people and ever more drivers and ever more consumers on the planet every day.

Answer 24

Oil is a finite resource that is there is only so much crude oil, so at some point we will run out. Right now we’re not running out so to speak, but it’s getting more difficult to extract it from the ground, either because of government restrictions on drilling and that it’s getting harder to get oil out of the easy oil fields. There are many oil fields that were capped years ago because it cost too much the extract the oil, but at the price oil is being sold at those fields are very attractive right now. But in my opinion we’ve past the peak and on the down hill side of production. That means it’s going to get harder and harder to get the oil we use, and thus the price will go up. But with the high price of oil, alterative energy sources will start looking attractive. We could, from the studies I’ve read, replace all of our current energy needs plus some extra from algae oil. Now I’m the first to admit the study was looking at the ideal situation, but it did make for an interesting read. The Federal government was pushing for algae oil in the 1970’s but the price of oil went way down then they stopped the funding. What make me hopeful about algae oil, which is converted into bio-diesel, is that it’s private funds doing this. You don’t have big lobbies steering money into this, unlike the corn farmers lobbie, i.e. ethanol.

Now your confusion about global warming/climate change, some places will get colder some places will get warmer, it depends on a lot of factors, like what happens to the jet stream, how the ocean reacts, etc. To say that one area will get warmer or colder depends on too many factors for anyone to say for certain that this area will be warmer or colder, but we can look to the past and say, when the average global temperature was this the planet looked like this so now that the average global temperature is this it should look similar.

But the science says right now that yes the planet has warmed.

Now how do you know who’s telling you the truth. That’s a little harder, but here’s a good first step, is the science transparent. That is can you see the data, can you see how the data was collected, do you know what the assumptions are, do you know what the theory is,  and how does it match to real life. The more open people are the easier it is to check their work. Good science depends on skeptics, people who question everything, if they can’t destroy the data, data collection, the theory or assumptions, then the odds are it’s probably on the right track.

That’s part is my problem with AGW, i.e. man made global warming; the data, data collection, the assumptions and theory aren’t transparent you have to work really hard to find out what they are doing. You might remember a graph that was in USA Today, the Mann graph also known as the hockey stick graph, it took a long time to force him to be transparent and his work was shot down petty fast after that, although he still claims his graph and data are fine. He started realclimate.org which is very pro man made global warming. Many people here use it as the end all of global warming, and yes I go there myself, but I don’t limit myself to one site, I go to many different sites and it funny the pro man made global warming site almost never point you to the data, tell you their assumption, etc. but the skeptics sites generally do. At least that has been my experience.

You want proof but proof is hard to find in something this complex. Look at smoking. We know smoking causes cancer, right? We have years or studies that have been review time and time again, but there is no one, not me, not you, not a doctor who can point to a lung cancer and say this was caused by smoking, even if that person smoked for years. They many have been unlucky and got a set of bad genes and would have developed it anyway, they may have been unlucky and something else may have given them lung cancer. We can say we see this type of cancer in people who smoke but we can’t say for sure that smoking caused this cancer. But we can prove that smoking causes an increase in cancer, we just can’t prove it caused this cancer.

So we have to wait until the studies are finished, no the science isn’t finished despite what the pro man made global warming crowd says. Then it can be reviewed then we can make informed decision, but this is going to take time and even longer until those who push man made global warming become transparent.

Hoped it helped.