How many years before we run out of our fuel supply? Not touching the National Reserve of course.?

Answer 1

Jim is right - the available supply of oil depends entirely upon price. At a price of $20 per barrel all you can afford to do is to pump the good stuff out of larger wells.

At the current $90-100 per barrel, you start seeing oil sands, offshore drilling, restimulation of old producing areas, deeper wells, re-emergence of thousands of tiny "stripper wells" from marginal producing areas, and the like.

At higher prices still, you will see oil shales, coal-to-oil and gas-to-oil technologies, increased use of public transportation options, smaller cars, and substitution of other fuel sources (biodiesel, solar, etc.) which would help to moderate demand.

It is virtually impossible to run out of fuel, because the supply is not a fixed quantity. If you double the price you will increase the potential reserves by several fold. The only way you run out is by regulating prices - artificially raising demand by making it too cheap, while artificially reducing supply by making it too non-profitable to produce.

Answer 2

The definition of reserve is the amount known that can be removed at a profit at todays cost. Reserves will last a couple hundred years. Unknown supplies will certainly be found and more expensive resources would put the fuel supply into the thousand plus. By that time, hopefully our technology will have advanced to the point where it is no longer an issue.

Answer 3

If we do the smart thing and go completely nuclear, we will have thousands of years of fuel, and the ability to create more (via breeder reactors).

Answer 4

Which fuel?

Oil?
Coal?
Natural Gas?