| Oil - Some Basics World Oil Reserves (Tables from American Petroleum Institute website) Proven world oil reserves total about 1 trillion barrels - about 70% of the reserves are in the Middle East. North America (US and Canada) has about 50 billion barrels - only 5% of the world reserves. Asia/Pacific (mostly China and Japan) have less than 50 billion barrels (demand is growing fast in China). Europe has less than 20 billion barrels. China, Japan, and Europe must buy almost all of their oil on the world market. The US buys well over half of its oil on the world market. World Oil Production Global oil production is about 67 million barrels per day, or about 25 billion barrels per year. Assuming no increase in production, all global oil reserves will be gone in about 40 years. At current levels of production, North American reserves will be gone in about 15 years. World Oil Consumption World oil consumption is about 25 billion barrels per year and is rising fast - 10% increase over the last ten years. 90% is consumed by North America, Asia, and Europe (the rich countries). Very little oil is available for industrial development anywhere else. US Oil Consumption About 2/3 of US oil consumption is for transportation (mainly cars!). Europe and Japan are similar. The Politics of Oil NA Reserves 50 billion barrels NA Production 3.6 billion barrels per year (will be gone in 15 years) NA Consumption 9 billion barrels per year (if we used only our own oil, our reserves would be gone in about 5 years!) The consuming countries (rich and powerful - North America, Europe, Japan) will face economic and social collapse if they can't force countries with large oil reserves (mostly poor and powerless - mainly Middle Eastern) to maintain relatively stable world oil markets, and even if this is successful all the oil will be gone in less than 40 years. We could extend this time by conserving oil (more efficient cars, more urban mass transit, etc.) - instead we are using less efficient cars (SUVs, large pickup trucks, Humvees, etc.). Oil Drilling in Alaska (ANWR) ANWR Reserves have been estimated at 6 -16 billion barrels - the average estimate is about10 billion barrels. 10 billion barrels is equivalent to about one year of NA consumption or about 5 months of global consumption. In short, this oil would have virtually no impact on overall supply or use of oil. Given the coming oil crisis (depletion) it would make more sense for the US to hold this oil in reserve for the future. So why go after this oil? 10 billion barrels at $40 per barrel equals $400 billion worth of oil. At a 10% profit margin, oil companies stand to make $40 billion in profits if they can get access to this oil. The public will lose a key oil reserve and also pay for the damage from drilling in a wildlife preserve. |
