Hating America

[loseyourname]

Simple, there is a limited amount of oil undergound and soon its going to run out. People dont like us because we are using up most of it.
It probably wont run out in our lifetime but we will definetly see shortages and a rise in prices.

There is plenty of oil underground. We haven't even begun to tap sources in the deep seas or in the arctic. High prices are not the fault of the consumer, it's the fault of the OPEC cartel that keeps supply artificially low, just as the diamond cartels do in Africa. If you want to hate somebody, hate free-market disrupting cartels, don't hate the country that discovered oil and invented just about every use for it, not to mention most other means of powering engines and creating an electric current. Let us not forget that if it wasn't for the US, most of the countries that have oil would be broke.

[patlajan]

There is plenty of oil underground. We haven't even begun to tap sources in the deep seas or in the arctic.

The experts disagree with you.

[loseyourname]

I was pretty sure that experts agreed we had at least enough for another century. I'm sure we'll find alternatives by then. I could be wrong. What other figures do you have?

[loseyourname]

I know we've never drilled more than about 15 miles or so offshore. That leaves 70% of the Earth's surface that we've never even looked under.

[Stark Evade]

I was pretty sure that experts agreed we had at least enough for another century. I'm sure we'll find alternatives by then. I could be wrong. What other figures do you have?

Yes, about 10 years ago I heard a speaker say 120 years.

[hyebruin]

haaa!! these evil oil companies have been whining and complaining about the scarcity of petroleum in effort to justify the hikes in gasoline price! i mean if we were really in that much trouble they would have rations at the gas pumps! there is not that much concern because technology is advancing, there are already hybrid cars out on the market and i'm sure car companies are doing R&D in effort to find alternative non-petroleum sources of fuel! it's not the end of the world, folks!

[Stark Evade]

One day I'm going to miss having loud muscle cars.

[patlajan]

I was pretty sure that experts agreed we had at least enough for another century. I'm sure we'll find alternatives by then. I could be wrong. What other figures do you have?

Yes, but it depends on how much it costs to get the remaining "enough" out of the ground. The cost will only rise over time, if they're spending money looking for new locations and drilling deeper, for shorter periods of time, in far away locations the cost can only rise. But the 100 year mark is generally accepted. 100 years is not a long time to me at all.

And even if they come up with some magically delicious new form of energy petrolium will still be needed to make things like plastics, and asphalt.

[gevo]

The experts disagree with you.

What else do the experts say?

[loseyourname]

I honestly doubt petroleum will be needed for plastics100 years from now. Long polymers like that can be built from any hydrocarbon backbone, and considering how hot a field chemical engineering is right now, there's no way to tell what innovations are right around the corner.