Saudi Arabia is fairly secretive, concerning its oil reserve capacity. What sort of clues might we see that would indicate that Saudi oil has crossed peak supply? Would they begin to lower output production, despite the inevitable rising global demand ?How would we know if Saudi oil reserves were beginning to dwindle?
first and foremost, you would stop hearing about gigantic deals being signed with oil companies, then you would hear that investments in the gas sector are surging comparatively. Also you would see a privatyization of the oil sector hence cashout operation. and also as an indicator, oil price within the country would start going up, hence here again taxes on oil products to compensate for loss of income.
I wouldn't think that this will happen in this generation and officially the next country that will run out of oil is Norway.
Friday, December 18, 2009
How long can the World Oil Reserves last?
Recently there is an escalation of the world oil price due to many contributing factors; one of which is the concern of the shortage of oil reserves.
The known world crude oil reserves in 1976 were estimated to be75, 000 million metric tons. The amount of oil consumed worldwide in 1976 was 2,800,000 thousand metric tons. Estimate the year the world oil supply will be depleted.How long can the World Oil Reserves last?
the world oil supply will never truly run out. They will just become so scarce and difficult to get at that we won't be able to use them. Fewer new oil fields are being discovered and output from established fields is decreasing (oil can't just be pumped faster from these fields because the geology and physics of the reservoirs prevents it). However our need for oil is not decreasing. This means that oil shortages will cause significant hardships, especially in the developed world starting very soon. This will get worse and worse unless we can find alternatives to oil. Developed countries must move away from oil before it becomes depleted if they wish to maintain high standards of living.How long can the World Oil Reserves last?
Even allowing for us to get at and use the currently hard to get at or use oil supplies, including all of the shale deposits and deep ocean drilling, and given the present rate of consumption (not even factoring in an almost certain increase), the world's oil will be permanently gone by 2120.
So, practically speaking, the 'oil' will hit the fan even sooner.
Until they run out.
Year...2121
wars are bound to happen before oil reserves run out.
my chemistry text book says in about 100 years
The known world crude oil reserves in 1976 were estimated to be75, 000 million metric tons. The amount of oil consumed worldwide in 1976 was 2,800,000 thousand metric tons. Estimate the year the world oil supply will be depleted.How long can the World Oil Reserves last?
the world oil supply will never truly run out. They will just become so scarce and difficult to get at that we won't be able to use them. Fewer new oil fields are being discovered and output from established fields is decreasing (oil can't just be pumped faster from these fields because the geology and physics of the reservoirs prevents it). However our need for oil is not decreasing. This means that oil shortages will cause significant hardships, especially in the developed world starting very soon. This will get worse and worse unless we can find alternatives to oil. Developed countries must move away from oil before it becomes depleted if they wish to maintain high standards of living.How long can the World Oil Reserves last?
Even allowing for us to get at and use the currently hard to get at or use oil supplies, including all of the shale deposits and deep ocean drilling, and given the present rate of consumption (not even factoring in an almost certain increase), the world's oil will be permanently gone by 2120.
So, practically speaking, the 'oil' will hit the fan even sooner.
Until they run out.
Year...2121
wars are bound to happen before oil reserves run out.
my chemistry text book says in about 100 years
Why are the majority of oil reserves located in the Northern hemisphere?
It seems that there is much less oil south of the equator. Could someone please give me a scientific explanation for this. Why are the reserves concentrated in the North? Is the Southern oil simply under the ocean, and if so, why does no one talk about it?Why are the majority of oil reserves located in the Northern hemisphere?
About 70% of the earth's land mass lies north of the equatior, so it stands to reason that most of the natural resources reside there too.Why are the majority of oil reserves located in the Northern hemisphere?
Don't know. One possiblity is that the conditions that create oil were more favorable or abundant in the northern hemisphere. Another possibility is that there are more reserves that haven't been discovered yet in the southern hemisphere.
Basically the anwser lies in not what has yet to be explored but that which has already been found. Holland was the first country in Europe to recognise a source rock for which oil reserves could possibly be found. The mapping of this layer of rock extened al over hte North Sea, UK, Holland, Denmark and Norway. We are still drilling in these parts and will for some time to come. Given that there is no immediate need to explore parts of the southern hemisphere to the same degree as that in the northern hemisphere yet. What actually governs the viability of exploring in the deep oceans is money. First the oil price has to be right, second there has to be an overall lack of oil production in 'cheaper' sectors i.e. easier to drill (time and money orientated) and then finally the availibility of technology to allow us to drill in such deep waters.
Please bear in mind that what we see now in terms of land mass accumulation was not the same 60-90Ma ago where a large part of the worlds oil reserves are contained with. Thus a reduction in solar energy is not a factor.
There is much more land and associated continental shelves in the northern hemisphere than the southern. It could be that there is much more oil to be discovered in the south though.
Edited Comment in response to additional details:
It is my understanding that oil companies do not expect to find significant oil in deep ocean regions that in general were never part of land masses.
Good question, but your explanation is wrong. Look at a map of the continents 300 million years ago. Maybe that will help. And don't forget about Venezula, one of the leading oil produces in the world.
About 70% of the earth's land mass lies north of the equatior, so it stands to reason that most of the natural resources reside there too.Why are the majority of oil reserves located in the Northern hemisphere?
Don't know. One possiblity is that the conditions that create oil were more favorable or abundant in the northern hemisphere. Another possibility is that there are more reserves that haven't been discovered yet in the southern hemisphere.
Basically the anwser lies in not what has yet to be explored but that which has already been found. Holland was the first country in Europe to recognise a source rock for which oil reserves could possibly be found. The mapping of this layer of rock extened al over hte North Sea, UK, Holland, Denmark and Norway. We are still drilling in these parts and will for some time to come. Given that there is no immediate need to explore parts of the southern hemisphere to the same degree as that in the northern hemisphere yet. What actually governs the viability of exploring in the deep oceans is money. First the oil price has to be right, second there has to be an overall lack of oil production in 'cheaper' sectors i.e. easier to drill (time and money orientated) and then finally the availibility of technology to allow us to drill in such deep waters.
Please bear in mind that what we see now in terms of land mass accumulation was not the same 60-90Ma ago where a large part of the worlds oil reserves are contained with. Thus a reduction in solar energy is not a factor.
There is much more land and associated continental shelves in the northern hemisphere than the southern. It could be that there is much more oil to be discovered in the south though.
Edited Comment in response to additional details:
It is my understanding that oil companies do not expect to find significant oil in deep ocean regions that in general were never part of land masses.
Good question, but your explanation is wrong. Look at a map of the continents 300 million years ago. Maybe that will help. And don't forget about Venezula, one of the leading oil produces in the world.
What ever happened to the oil reserves that the government built up?
I seem to recall that on one occasion the president (Bush Sr) had threatened to release some of the reserve in order to keep the prices down.What ever happened to the oil reserves that the government built up?
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve currently holds 701 million barrels of oil and has a capacity of 727 million barrels of oil. The United States consumes approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day.
So in short nothing happened to it...it is still there. A portion of it was released during hurricane katrina and it has since been restocked.What ever happened to the oil reserves that the government built up?
To add to Ethan E's excellent answer, it is a strategic reserve, ie, it is there for military/industrial use in case oil is cut off by an embargo or something; not to get votes and not to interfere with the economy.
I'll tell you what happened to it!!! Nothing... cause just like everything else the government gets involved with, it's a LIE...
surprised?
They're still reserved. Usually the government releases some during elections.
Bush is keeping them for a rainy day. Bush doesn't really want anything to get cheaper, except interest rates.
The world (including us) has billions of reserves, were all just to insane and corrupt to give a damn
Ask Sadam Hussains sun living in florida:)
Ahhnold is using it to fill up his Hummah collection.
';threaten';. but did bush really release some of the reserve to keep the prices down? not yet.mineral foundation
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve currently holds 701 million barrels of oil and has a capacity of 727 million barrels of oil. The United States consumes approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day.
So in short nothing happened to it...it is still there. A portion of it was released during hurricane katrina and it has since been restocked.What ever happened to the oil reserves that the government built up?
To add to Ethan E's excellent answer, it is a strategic reserve, ie, it is there for military/industrial use in case oil is cut off by an embargo or something; not to get votes and not to interfere with the economy.
I'll tell you what happened to it!!! Nothing... cause just like everything else the government gets involved with, it's a LIE...
surprised?
They're still reserved. Usually the government releases some during elections.
Bush is keeping them for a rainy day. Bush doesn't really want anything to get cheaper, except interest rates.
The world (including us) has billions of reserves, were all just to insane and corrupt to give a damn
Ask Sadam Hussains sun living in florida:)
Ahhnold is using it to fill up his Hummah collection.
';threaten';. but did bush really release some of the reserve to keep the prices down? not yet.
What is the difference between oil production and oil reserves?
HW question. Have no idea, just a short answer is fine, I have no clue what either are so.... Please respond within next 15 minutes.What is the difference between oil production and oil reserves?
Reserves are what is in the ground.
This is often based on an analysis of the geology of the area. It is normally an estimate.
PROVED reserves are different. Those are fields that we have actually tapped into and know are there, and we have better data on.
Production is how much is pumped out of the ground, normally measured in how much is produced each day.
Note, you would think that you could take the estimated reserves, divide by the amount that comes out of the ground each day, and get a good idea of when the oil or gas is going to run out. Lots of people do that, but in real life it never works out that way. A typical oil well leaves between 70 and 30 of the oil in the rock when it ';runs dry';...it has to do with the geology (Google ';porosity'; and ';permeability';). There are techniques called ';secondary production'; that can get at the oil that is left behind.
Lastly estimates of reserves are often inaccurate because they assume that drilling technolgy is static. This is not true. How to get oil out of rocks is a VERY involved science (Google Fracking) and we can do all sorts of things we couldn't do 30, or even 10 years ago...not just drilling deeper, but things that used to be exotic (like drilling horizontal wells, and directional drilling) are now routine. As our ability to drill gets better we can now access huge amounts of oil and gas that in the past we couldn't. (Google ';Barnett Shale';). This effectively increases our reserves.
So no, they aren't making any more oil, but they are making better ways to get at the oil that is already there...which increases the amount of oil and gas we can get at, and amounts to pretty much the same thing. What is the difference between oil production and oil reserves?
Economically speaking. Oil production is your money today. Oil reserves are your future money.
production is how much they are pumping out of ground per day or year or week. reserves is how much is in the ground that they own !
Reserves are what is in the ground.
This is often based on an analysis of the geology of the area. It is normally an estimate.
PROVED reserves are different. Those are fields that we have actually tapped into and know are there, and we have better data on.
Production is how much is pumped out of the ground, normally measured in how much is produced each day.
Note, you would think that you could take the estimated reserves, divide by the amount that comes out of the ground each day, and get a good idea of when the oil or gas is going to run out. Lots of people do that, but in real life it never works out that way. A typical oil well leaves between 70 and 30 of the oil in the rock when it ';runs dry';...it has to do with the geology (Google ';porosity'; and ';permeability';). There are techniques called ';secondary production'; that can get at the oil that is left behind.
Lastly estimates of reserves are often inaccurate because they assume that drilling technolgy is static. This is not true. How to get oil out of rocks is a VERY involved science (Google Fracking) and we can do all sorts of things we couldn't do 30, or even 10 years ago...not just drilling deeper, but things that used to be exotic (like drilling horizontal wells, and directional drilling) are now routine. As our ability to drill gets better we can now access huge amounts of oil and gas that in the past we couldn't. (Google ';Barnett Shale';). This effectively increases our reserves.
So no, they aren't making any more oil, but they are making better ways to get at the oil that is already there...which increases the amount of oil and gas we can get at, and amounts to pretty much the same thing. What is the difference between oil production and oil reserves?
Economically speaking. Oil production is your money today. Oil reserves are your future money.
production is how much they are pumping out of ground per day or year or week. reserves is how much is in the ground that they own !
Does Obama realize the difference between oil reserves and oil consumption?
Obama seems to believe that because the United States only has 3% of the worlds oil reserves we can not drill our way out of it, because we use 25% of the worlds supply. We have enough oil to last 50 plus years. I believe we could do a lot over the next 50 years in finding and implementing additional energy sources.Does Obama realize the difference between oil reserves and oil consumption?
Do you also get the impression from Obama that he doesn't have any original ideas of his own?
Similar to Hillary Clinton, his opinions are carefully crafted by his campaign managers and the power elite of the Democratic party.
Barack is their Uncle Tom who was selected after anaylses of demographic voting patterns in the past two elections. It was either going to take a woman or what appears to be a black man in order win this POTUS election. The mistakes done with Gore and Kerry were not to be repeated, especially with the prevalent anti-Bush sentiments promoted by the liberal MSM.
80-85% of Americans agree on the important issues. There are no Red state Blue state antagonisms in this country as the 10-15% of the American electorate, the fringe margin, leftist liberal base of the Democratic party wants us to believe.
This applies to the issue of offshore drilling for oil, and others likes a moment of silent prayer in public schools, marriage defined as a man-woman basis for a family, abhorence to the inhumanity inherent in abortions, the ability to use the income from our labors and not trust D.C. or our state capitol governments to spend it, etc.
Barack's track record of incompleteness and inexperience suggests that Barack strains to realize anything other than expecting for himself, his close chronies, and for that 10-15% of America, the elite, leftist, liberal base of the Democratic party, the potential to fill their pockets off the backs of working Americans.
Oil companies should not benefit from wind fall profits and be given unfair tax advantages, no one should.
What Obama doesn't realize is that ';OIL'; is still a strategic, national security commodity. With anti-American nations with powerful militaries like Iran, North Korea, Russia etc, and anti-American terrorism organization still rampant, no one should take our national security requirements for granted.Does Obama realize the difference between oil reserves and oil consumption?
he only knows the difference between allowing you to keep your hard earned money or having the government keep your hard earned money, and as a tried and true socialist, he believes your money belongs to the government, as do you and your children belong to the government
OBAMA??? IT'S McCAIN WHO DIDN'T CHALLENGE 3% OIL RESERVES. . . OILIGARCHY, FOLKS!!!
RETARDED BIRTH OF BEAUTY QUEEN. . .???
THEOCRACY/OILIGARCHY!!!
Very perceptive. This is the kind of education you get at Harvard apparently. Obama is counting on you being more ignorant than he is to get your vote..
Yes. Obama is correct. We PRODUCE only 3% of the worlds oil. We consume 25%. This is well documented.
we do not have enough oil to supply ourselves for 50 years. We consume much more than we can produce.
what happened to the electric Car?
No, he does not understand.
Electric.. ? Where is my flying car ?
Do you also get the impression from Obama that he doesn't have any original ideas of his own?
Similar to Hillary Clinton, his opinions are carefully crafted by his campaign managers and the power elite of the Democratic party.
Barack is their Uncle Tom who was selected after anaylses of demographic voting patterns in the past two elections. It was either going to take a woman or what appears to be a black man in order win this POTUS election. The mistakes done with Gore and Kerry were not to be repeated, especially with the prevalent anti-Bush sentiments promoted by the liberal MSM.
80-85% of Americans agree on the important issues. There are no Red state Blue state antagonisms in this country as the 10-15% of the American electorate, the fringe margin, leftist liberal base of the Democratic party wants us to believe.
This applies to the issue of offshore drilling for oil, and others likes a moment of silent prayer in public schools, marriage defined as a man-woman basis for a family, abhorence to the inhumanity inherent in abortions, the ability to use the income from our labors and not trust D.C. or our state capitol governments to spend it, etc.
Barack's track record of incompleteness and inexperience suggests that Barack strains to realize anything other than expecting for himself, his close chronies, and for that 10-15% of America, the elite, leftist, liberal base of the Democratic party, the potential to fill their pockets off the backs of working Americans.
Oil companies should not benefit from wind fall profits and be given unfair tax advantages, no one should.
What Obama doesn't realize is that ';OIL'; is still a strategic, national security commodity. With anti-American nations with powerful militaries like Iran, North Korea, Russia etc, and anti-American terrorism organization still rampant, no one should take our national security requirements for granted.Does Obama realize the difference between oil reserves and oil consumption?
he only knows the difference between allowing you to keep your hard earned money or having the government keep your hard earned money, and as a tried and true socialist, he believes your money belongs to the government, as do you and your children belong to the government
OBAMA??? IT'S McCAIN WHO DIDN'T CHALLENGE 3% OIL RESERVES. . . OILIGARCHY, FOLKS!!!
RETARDED BIRTH OF BEAUTY QUEEN. . .???
THEOCRACY/OILIGARCHY!!!
Very perceptive. This is the kind of education you get at Harvard apparently. Obama is counting on you being more ignorant than he is to get your vote..
Yes. Obama is correct. We PRODUCE only 3% of the worlds oil. We consume 25%. This is well documented.
we do not have enough oil to supply ourselves for 50 years. We consume much more than we can produce.
what happened to the electric Car?
No, he does not understand.
Electric.. ? Where is my flying car ?
World oil reserves are not dropping whilst oil price soars. What agent is responsible for oil price?
It would be more acceptable that the price of commodities really result of natural, unpredictable fluctuations on offer and demand, not on artificial factors?World oil reserves are not dropping whilst oil price soars. What agent is responsible for oil price?
It's so freakin fixed it ain't funny. Boy am I on the wrong side of the equation...lol
Last time I checked the remaining reserves added up to about a trillion bbls at 42 gallons each or 42 cubic miles of crude. Currently using 1 cubic mile per year.....oh no 42 more years of this crap. At the current crude price I bet they'll find a lot more.....World oil reserves are not dropping whilst oil price soars. What agent is responsible for oil price?
Great question!
Several reasons.
1) Increasing demand from developing countries like China and India. They are rapidly growing, and growth requires energy: oil.
2) Geo-political tensions in the oil producing countries. Iraq, Iran, and other middle eastern countries are politically unstable.
3) Natural disasters such as hurricanes, landslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis can destroy oil rigs and platforms and pipe-lines. It is hurricane season in the gulf of Mexico.
4) The strength of the dollar is falling. Weaker dollar means you pay more dollars for the same amount of oil.
5) And of course, the oil cartel dictates the price of oil.
It's so freakin fixed it ain't funny. Boy am I on the wrong side of the equation...lol
Last time I checked the remaining reserves added up to about a trillion bbls at 42 gallons each or 42 cubic miles of crude. Currently using 1 cubic mile per year.....oh no 42 more years of this crap. At the current crude price I bet they'll find a lot more.....World oil reserves are not dropping whilst oil price soars. What agent is responsible for oil price?
Great question!
Several reasons.
1) Increasing demand from developing countries like China and India. They are rapidly growing, and growth requires energy: oil.
2) Geo-political tensions in the oil producing countries. Iraq, Iran, and other middle eastern countries are politically unstable.
3) Natural disasters such as hurricanes, landslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis can destroy oil rigs and platforms and pipe-lines. It is hurricane season in the gulf of Mexico.
4) The strength of the dollar is falling. Weaker dollar means you pay more dollars for the same amount of oil.
5) And of course, the oil cartel dictates the price of oil.
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