How much oil is left in the world? 20 years? 100 years? Assuming no major advances in tecnology.?

Answer 1

No easy answer. The easy oil has been found and exploited. It is harder and harder to find new reserves. We must drill deeper and in more inhospitable areas. Reservoir based oil is being depleted at ever increasing rates. Other sources of oil, tar sands, oil shales, coal liquefaction, etc. are much more difficult and expensive to extract oil from.

Cheap oil days are gone. We can get the oil, but it will be more and more expensive to extract. Technology advances will help, but the expense won't go down. The biggest problem in the US is not in oil supply, we are at our refining capacity. Yet NIMBYs (not in my back yard) refuse to allow more refineries to be built.

The other factor in this equation is world demand. China is demanding more and more oil all the time. Other developing countries are increasing demand. Ten years ago, we could almost put a number on the amount of oil "reserves" available. But now, it is a very complex forecast.

It is safe to say that we won't run out anytime soon, but we must use what we have wisely.

The bottom line is that crude oil, like any other fossil fuel, is a finite supply. The faster you use it, the quicker it will be gone. These are the geological facts.

Answer 2

The reports in the scientific magazines have 2 statements to make:
1): The first statement is based on the assumption (I mean assumption) that we know every thing about the reservoirs around the world.
a) That we know the quantity left in these reservoirs etc.
b) The present consumption rate stays steady, with a little bit of fluctuation.
In this case, the first statement says that We have already crossed the mid point of the reservoirs and eventually we will have NO oil in 150 years.
2): If we do not know all the facts, as is the case with some nations in the world that they do not want to talk about the exact wealth of oil they have. Here again we have 2 sub-cases
a) they have less than what they show
b) they have more than what they tell
Now if the rate of consumption increases ( with more industry and other related stuff) no new reservoirs are discovered, we will hit the bottom in may be 100 years.

The theory of 20 years is absolute absurd.

Answer 3

There is plenty of oil left at the north pole and in other places
it just gets more and more expensive , Hydr ogen and other alternate fuels are available but oil is still the cheapest .
It will be interesting to see how the saudi's make out raising goats and camels for a living

Answer 4

plus or minus a century at present rate of usage.

Answer 5

We will never run out we will just stop being able to afford it, it will become so expensive to extract.

Answer 6

at least hundred years.