Oil Reserves

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Introductory Geology, Oswego State : One Thread

I happen to have come across a very interesting educational program "Earth Revealed: Introductory Geology" on PBSU last weekend. As I sat listening to this speaker talk about new ways of finding oil reserves under the U.S. and how large the reserves are underneath the U.S., a question came to mind. Why if we have such a large reserve under the U.S., why do we have a so called oil shortage now? Why are we not dipping into this huge oil reserve that is under us right now? Also if anyone is interested in seeing this program, it can be seen again at 5:30am Sunday morning on PBSU. I feel this program is so very helpful in helping to understand geology a little better for people like myself who are just touching base with this subject!

-- Tina Miller (sultice@aol.com), February 10, 2001

Answers

That's a very good question! This whole "oil shortage" dilema, leading to the raise in gas prices, is mind boggling when you think of all of the oil that we could possibly have sitting below us right here as we speak! The only conclusion that I can come to, as too why we aren't using this resourse, is the idea that we don't want to deplete all of our oil reserves at the same time. In the end, I guess it's probably better to conserve, pay a little extra now, and still have some oil left in years to come...than to use it freely now and have none left in the future.

-- rebecca hamlin (nemesis729@aol.com), February 14, 2001.

This really is the law of diminishing returns. In other words in the search for a resource in the beginning a little money will get you alot but as you try and get more and more the amount of money to retreive 1 unit grows exponentialy. For the most part it is not finacialy viable to retreive much of the oil that we know where it is. Some estimates by the way say we have as little as 35 years left at current growth rates. Different from the oil reserve you speack of there is often discussion of the federal oil reserve, and if part of that oil should be used to lower prices. The federal oil reserve which is oil that has been pumped into empty caverns in the ground is not that much oil, it is designed to support the millitary for one month.

-- Aaron Jacobs (ajacobs@dreamscape.com), February 21, 2001.

I also think that much of our oil is in areas that we are trying to preserve. I don't think that matters to President Bush , he feels that we should go into these preserved lands to get the oil regardless of the destruction on these lands.

-- Sandra Feocco (sfeocco@hotmail.com), March 11, 2001.

I do not think we have an oil shortage right now. The idea of supply and demand comes into mind. If the public believes that the supply of crude oil is running thin, then they will not feel as though they are being "taken" by the oil companies. I feel that we should preserve our oil and search out alternative sources of power. Hybrid vehicles are on the market right now. They are made primarily by foreign automakers. We have become too dependant upon oil and the extremely rich oil producers are laughing all the way to the bank, this includes our president.

-- Jason Shriner (pachabel007@hotmail.com), April 11, 2001.

I hate hippies.

-- Rusty Shakelford (IHATEHIPPIES@hippiesshoulddie.com), December 10, 2003.


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