We may have unexplored reserves of oil. Fact or Myth ?

Question

Its a very big world and there may be billions of tons of unexplored oil under the mass of this Earth, just wasting itself away, while nations in want of oil, are not even aware that they might have the answer to their needs right in their backyard. What is needed though is the finance which is not enough to tap this resource, which would make it very cheap. Great expectations ?

Answer 1

There no doubt is some.

But there is a major worldwide effort to discover new oil, has been for quite some time.

And every year we discover less, while the amount we consume is ever more. We now discover less new oil each year than the increase in consumption.

Oil won't run out, but it will get very expensive. Those countries that don't steadily shift away from oil as a source of energy will not be competitive in world markets.

Answer 2

I find it pretty hard to believe what is needed is the finaces to tap more oil. Exxon-Mobil had a PROFIT (not total income) of $45 billion in 2006.

It does become more and more expensive to reach some of the sources though. Not just in dollars, but in other resources. For instance, huge quantities of water are needed to retrieve oil from the oil shales (I can't remember exactly how much per barrel of oil, but it is a LOT).

Answer 3

there may be lots of oil. however there is a limit to how fast & cheaply it can be extracted, and we are approaching the point when our increasing demand will be greater than rate of possible supply, aka "peak oil".

Oil is still a finite resource.
There are better technologies avaialble today for most of our oil uses, so it would be prudent to reserve oil for essential uses like helicopters where alternatives are not yet available.
eg personal transport, electric cars are far more enjoyable driving experience, quite, smell free, smooth, powerful, simple to make & maintain, refuel at home or work from renewable energy... the Tesla does 0-60 in 4 seconds; 250 miles per charge, the Phoenix 90mph SUT can be recharged in 10 minutes.

the stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones.

Answer 4

You are 100% correct that there is oil in mass qunatities still yet to be tapped for production. Not only is it in standard form, but with new technologies, we are now beginning to invest in technologies to harvest hydrocarbons from oil shales and tar sands. Just alone, there is an estimated 1.2 trillion barrels of oil yet to be harvested from the oil shales located in Colorado, which 800 billion barrels is expected to be recoverable. Right now, however, the largest problem hindering the drilling for typical oil wells is not all economical; there is plenty of money to drill new wells if deemed so. The main problem in today's society is politics. It is merely poitical agendas that keep countries such as the U.S. from drilling for more oil and making it less dependent on foreign sources of oil. So in conclucion, there is indeed enough oil and other hydrocarbons on this planet, if they are allowed to be recovered, to pontentially supply the world for another century and beyond.

Answer 5

Neither fact nor myth, but possibility. It is unlikely though. With trillions of dollars of profit to be made, oil companies have spent billions of dollars looking for oil EVERYWHERE in the world. Some may have eluded the search, but the probability is low that that is really the case.

Answer 6

We have lots of oil up on the north slope of Alaska in the shadows of the Brooks Range. In 1969 my dad worked there and they would strike oil, then cap it for a later date, in case of an national emergency such as a really big war. Though we do still pump Pruedoe Bay oil!

Answer 7

The environmentalist don't want it cheap as they think u are already burning more than your share. Mother nature recycles our air and fossil fuels . so the second time around nature may hide it differently. CO2 is removed by plants and the plants take the carbon in there leaves which fall off and wash down the river to the delta where it will deteriorate into gas ,oil ,and coal.

Answer 8

mother earth does not REMAKE the fossil fuels, we are using up all of it. we can simply use electric cars which can be made cheaply, but right now are being/going to be sold at like 90,000$

it's all about the money$$$

that's all people care about is profit, if we make a nature friendly car they will charge up the a-s for it.

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