The Myth that “Oil never ends”

Some people, including oil and gas experts, believe that hydrocarbons (e.g. oil and gas) will never end. This is not only a big myth but a fallacy, that can lead to wrong decisions and strategies, jeopardizing the future of our children and the future of humanity. Such myths created a kind of unprecedented global complacency.
Above myth is driven by reports about discoveries and production from non conventional areas of oil reserves, such as deep water, Alaska and new geographical areas, beside discoveries and production of shale oil and gas. Furthermore, some believe that oil exploration and production technologies keep improving, allowing production from aged fields, non conventional reserves, plus enable them to handle difficult hydrocarbons, like sour crude and gas.
Our response to this myth is as follows:
⁃By the laws of nature, fossil fuels (oil and gas are part of them) are not renewable, so they have an end, one day.
⁃Major oil companies and experts, in this field estimate that oil will be finished in about 5 decades. This is supported also by mathematical models, built by experts, like King Hubbert.
⁃We should agree that the end of oil and gas era, does not mean that every drop of oil on this earth will be consumed by that time. To the contrary, there will be still large quantities, resting somewhere inside this earth, but either could not be extracted and or if extracted will not be justified, due to poor commercial feasibility I.e. the return on energy factor will be negative, hence better leave them there.
⁃Shale oil and gas, though undergoing a hype of speculations, still suffer of a high cost of production (though decreasing). Furthermore, it is not considered a stable, predictable and proven resource, due to limited relevant data, experience and history. It still needs more research and experience, to evaluate its recoverability (quantities and cost). Needless to mention its negative impact on the environment etc.
⁃Consumption of oil under current way of living, complacent attitude and increase in population, will continue to increase, even after the introduction of other kinds of energy sources such as renewable etc…, this will accelerate reaching the end.
⁃Even if we assume that the new hydrocarbon resources will change the estimated end day, that will not add at most more than 2-3 decades, hence still there will be an end in this century.

Conclusion
Before it is too late, we should all agree that oil is going to end in few decades, preparing and planning for that destiny, starting as early as possible, is a must. This is the responsibility of every one of us.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *