how long the petroleum reserves under earth will last?

Question

how many years, we are going to get crude oil? how we going to tackle energy problem then?

Answer 1

We will NEVER completely run out of oil, its just a function of economics. Assuming a constant rate of consumption and no greenhouse gases or some factor that affects the demand, the price of oil will have to increase as the supply diminishes. That's basic economics - supply and demand determine the price. As the price goes up, oil companies will be able to recover oil from deeper reserves, smaller reserves, remote locations, and low quality oil shales etc. Not only that, oil companies will be motivated to look for new oil fields and reserves as the price goes up.

At some point the price of oil could get so high that there will no longer be any economically recoverable oil. But its more likely that the price of oil gets so high that nobody will buy it anymore, so we go back to the supply and demand fundamentals, and the price goes down.

So it all comes down to affordability. People in many third world countries can't afford oil today, but in North America and Europe we are complaining but can still afford it.

The oil sands in Alberta, Canada have enough oil to supply the entire world at today's consumption rate for over 200 years - at today's technology. The oil shales in Wyoming & Colorado, USA have that much oil available again, but we don't have the technology to recover the oil at today's prices.

There's no question we need to reduce our energy demand, start making better use of our existing oil reserves, and looking to alternative energy sources like nuclear, but we will not run out of oil.

Answer 2

The difficult thing with answering this question is the issue of price. As price goes up (as it has been), certain reserves which could not be used earlier (because of high cost) are now affordable. So, if price continues to rise, reserves continue to go up.

However, there will be a point where the cost of gas is so high that alternative energy sources will be more cost-effective. What price that is no one knows.

Answer 3

there will ALWAYS be oil in the underground... only it will get REALLY expensive to get it in something like 100 years. (sooner if the chineese all want to get a car)

it will come a time when, to get 1L of oil out of the ground, you'll have to spend more energy than what is contained in that liter of oil : that's why there will always be oil left in the underground... not that it does us any good...

Answer 4

it will last for another 50yrs or so. we will have to find alternatives sources within this period of time.

Answer 5

longer then the humans will