what would happen if the oil in thu.s actually ran out?

Answer 1

A theory now permeating oil company research staffs suggests that crude oil may actually be a natural inorganic product, not a stepchild of unfathomable time and organic degradation. The theory suggests there may be huge, yet-to-be-discovered reserves of oil at depths that dwarf current world estimates.

The theory is simple: Crude oil forms as a natural inorganic process which occurs between the mantle and the crust, somewhere between 5 and 20 miles deep. The proposed mechanism is as follows:
Methane (CH4) is a common molecule found in quantity throughout our solar system - huge concentrations exist at great depth in the Earth.
At the mantle-crust interface, roughly 20,000 feet beneath the surface, rapidly rising streams of compressed methane-based gasses hit pockets of high temperature causing the condensation of heavier hydrocarbons. The product of this condensation is commonly known as crude oil.
Some compressed methane-based gasses migrate into pockets and reservoirs we extract as "natural gas."
In the geologically "cooler," more tectonically stable regions around the globe, the crude oil pools into reservoirs.
In the "hotter," more volcanic and tectonically active areas, the oil and natural gas continue to condense and eventually to oxidize, producing carbon dioxide and steam, which exits from active volcanoes.
Periodically, depending on variations of geology and Earth movement, oil seeps to the surface in quantity, creating the vast oil-sand deposits of Canada and Venezuela, or the continual seeps found beneath the Gulf of Mexico and Uzbekistan.
Periodically, depending on variations of geology, the vast, deep pools of oil break free and replenish existing known reserves of oil.
There are a number of observations across the oil-producing regions of the globe that support this theory.

So in short theres a very highly unlikely chance that we will ever completely run out of oil, we would just need to give it some time to renew itself. Or we'd just have to develop it slowly enough to allow it to keep up, which Human's would never allow because we're a species of excessiveness and greed, but in a perfect world....

Answer 2

Depends on your definitions of oil, and run out. Every year oil is being recovered from ever more difficult sources. Deeper off shore reserves, oil shale and tar sands. to name a few. So oil will get increasingly expensive rather than run out at any one specific time. It is estimated that the amount of cheap easy to get oil will not meet the demands over the next decade. Oil can also be manufactured from coal, or natural gas even from renewable resources. So we need never 'run out' in that absolute sense. We are already running out of easy to get oil though and that is being reflected in ever higher oil prices. And it is estimated that we have already used over half of the available reserves, and that total oil production will basically decline from here on in. There are plenty of alternatives to oil for all of its uses, but they tend to cost more, so are not used. The price differences are modest, but people tend to buy/uses cheapest even if it isn't always a good idea.

Answer 3

It won't in your lifetime, but its worth thinking about. I am listening to Congress right now on tv trying to get a bill passed that takes away big oil subsidies and puts money into innovating new energy supplies. Just think when we get off the gas kick and use a renewable energy source like corn, soy and sugar cane we will have freed ourselves from this self-imposed prison. The countries like Iraq and Iran are mostly desert, when they run out of gas who will they be looking to for the new energy source? People with farms will be put to work, land that has been kept fallow by the govt. will prosper. We are fools to not kick the oil habit NOW.

Answer 4

what do you mean "if"? It's inevitable, but there is a lot of effort being made to increase efficiency, but in the end it will be gone and we better be prepared for that eventuallity.

Answer 5

We would have to go to nuclear energy, and also use battery operated cars, or using crop made fuel.

Answer 6

We'd continue to import it (we already import most of it), until we could develop alternative fuel sources.