sourdough58 Loc: Maine

Earth Is An Oil-Producing Machine — We're Not Running Out

KERRY JACKSON
05:39 PM ET 11/04/2015
Ever since M. King Hubbert in the 1950s convinced a lot of people with his "peak oil" theory that production would collapse and we'd eventually exhaust our crude supplies, the clock has been running. And running. And it will continue to run for some time, as technology and new discoveries show that there's still an ocean of oil under our feet.

Engineering and Technology Magazine reported this week that BP — the company that once wanted to be known as "Beyond Petroleum" rather than "British Petroleum" — is saying "the world is no longer at risk of running out of resources."

"Thanks to investment into supercomputers, robotics and the use of chemicals to extract the maximum from available reservoirs, the accessible oil and gas reserves will almost double by 2050," Engineering and Technology said.

A BP official told the magazine that "energy resources are plentiful. Concerns over running out of oil and gas have disappeared."

Things are so good, in fact, that Engineering and Technology says "with the use of the innovative technologies, available fossil fuel resources could increase from the current 2.9 trillion barrels of oil equivalent to 4.8 trillion by 2050, which is almost twice as much as the projected global demand." That number could even reach 7.5 trillion barrels if technology and exploration techniques advance even faster.

This information backs up the idea that Earth is actually an oil-producing machine. We call energy sources such as crude oil and natural gas fossil fuels based on the assumption that they are the products of decaying organisms, maybe even dinosaurs themselves. But the label is a misnomer. Research from the last decade found that hydrocarbons are synthesized abiotically.

In other words, as Science magazine has reported, the "data imply that hydrocarbons are produced chemically" from carbon found in Earth's mantle. Nature magazine calls the product of this process an "unexpected bounty " of "natural gas and the building blocks of oil products."

So don't feel guilty about exploiting this "bounty." There seems to be plenty to go around — and there will probably still be a lot left when technology, not hurried by government mandates and subsidies but guided by market forces, produces practical and affordable renewable energy.

But for now, enjoy our cheap, abundant and efficient "fossil" fuels.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

Proven oil & gas reserves have always been driven by price. As the price goes up and technology advances probable and potential reserves become proven.

bwa

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

So is the argument that the supply is continuously being replenished and will never run out, or that newer exploration/drilling methods will stretch the available but limited supply longer than was previously thought? If the former, references/links please. If the latter, that’s what I’d say also if I were an oil producer wanting to keep my stock price high in the face of alternative energy technologies and the push toward alternate fuel sources for vehicles.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

You’d intentionally lie for money?

frankco Loc: Colorado

I've read about 20 years ago of oil company 200 miles off the coast of Brazil sinking a well in 20,000 feet of water. Wonder what a barrel of that crude costs? Where's all this low hanging fruit?

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

When you take inflation into consideration, oil prices are about the same as they were fifty years ago when oil was plentiful and easy to recover. Those greedy big oil companies have done a great job keeping prices down despite increasing demand and increasing difficulty in obtaining crude oil.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Note the OP's source document was written in 2015. Curious why he'd post old "news."

Since our addiction to oil use is closely related to climate change, "never running out" is going to be the least of our worries in another decade.

sourdough58 Loc: Maine

I would suggest it is only "old news" for those that saw it when it first came out. As for your comments on climate change, If not for climate change the North American continent would still be covered in a huge glacier 1 mile deep that as it melted and moved along slowly formed our mountains and lakes. all without the help of hair spray and gas powered cars and trucks.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

It's a mystery to me how some will reference changes that took millions of years to occur but who ignore the impact of the current 8 billion+ human inhabitants who strain all the resources and give nothing back to Mother Earth.

That was then, this is now.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Sourdough, you neglected to mention how good things were back in the day when the abundant use of fossil fuels allowed a protective layer of smog to cover many of our larger cities and nevermind our rivers in many cases so thick with petroleum products that they would catch on fire. It should be burn baby burn and if that causes problems for the future, so what -- you won't be here to deal with the consequences.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Most of us on UHH won't have to deal with the worst of the consequences.

I read a fascinating novel by Kim Stanley Robinson titled "New York 2140." After the ice melts and coastal cities flood, after resulting wars and famine, there will be a future generation of humans who adapt, develop new technology and societies. The message is somewhat hopeful and optimistic, believe it or not

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I’m comfortable suggesting that oil companies (and many others) always put the best face on their future prospects, both daily and in their quarterly reports.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

It’s a sad legacy (in many ways) we’re leaving to our grandchildren.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I've become rather fatalistic in believing that human nature will continue to be about greed and shortsightedness until things get really, really bad in the richest, most developed nations (such as major coastal cities flooding badly).