Oil and gas running out much faster than expected, says study

news.independent.co.uk...

World oil and gas supplies are heading for a "production crunch" sometime between 2010 and 2020 when they cannot meet supply, because global reserves are 80 per cent smaller than had been thought, new forecasts suggest.

Research presented this week at the University of Uppsala in Sweden claims that oil supplies will peak soon after 2010, and gas supplies not long afterwards, making the price of petrol and other fuels rocket, with potentially disastrous economic consequences unless people have moved to alternatives to fossil fuels.

While forecasters have always known that such a date lies ahead, they have previously put it around 2050, and estimated that there would be time to shift energy use over to renewables and other non- fossil sources.

Could this be the reason for the fears regarding the U.N. and the near future? A rapidly approaching oil shortage with no alternative energy source to switch the economy to? This would certainly put a hurt on the world's pocket book.

[Edited on 2-10-2003 by heelstone]

Who cares about gas were gonna get hydrogen powerd cars soon

maybe i am right... maybe they are running out now, and that was the reason for the war in iraq...

i have noticed alot of wind turbines being built, or aplications for alot of wind turbines...

something is going on....

they wouldnt let us know if they were running out. Think of the mass panic if they suddenly announced this to the world.

In my opinion, they are running out and they already know this and are scrambling to somehow make the switch without causing a freakout .

HELLO we still have hydrogen and nuclear energy!! No need to panic here.

www.bmwboard.com...

Even the germans have a solution to solve our problem.

The problem is, how can any of them price out a new form of energy on par with oil to maintain their status quo, or have it ready for distribution before the crunch? If they don't there will be hell to pay. The original statistics for a 2050 or later crunch would allow for some leeway. If this happens in less than 10 years, it will be hard to impossible to implement a decent switch regardless of what energy tech awaits.

i think we are very short on reserves....

thats why all this terrorist thing happened...to gain momentum... maybe we will get another attack so they can invade iran or saudi...

maybe thats... why all strange things are going on...

well they can get #ed if they think i am paying for water as a fuel... sure ill pay for the engine that uses water.. but i aint paying for the water ... they can get to #....

maybe this will cause massive fighting in the middle east soon... as people fight for the last few barrels of oil ??????

Heelstone i think your "panicing"
Bush has already put what....3 billion into Hydrogen cars. No need to worry. USA will be the first country that will be using Hydrogen.

Originally posted by Ricko
Heelstone i think your "panicing"
Bush has already put what....3 billion into Hydrogen cars. No need to worry. USA will be the first country that will be using Hydrogen.

I wouldn't suggest I'm panicking rather than making a prediction if they do not have something in place before that time.

If a 2010-2012 crunch happens, do you really think people will be willing to buy a whole new car or other mode of transport? Some people can't afford to buy used cars under 10 years old. The transition would have to be slow and over a period of a decade or more, not within 1-2 years. It would be impossible. Though this is my own opinion.

[Edited on 2-10-2003 by heelstone]

Cars can be recalled for new ones. For example if you have a mazda and they find a flaw in the car they will call you so they can repair it. I think the govt. will do some thing like this "Hopefully"

A new form of fuel, if it was not based upon the properties of gasoline, would require entirely new engines for vehicles. Engines are the single most expensive things in any mode of transport. Any company would go bankrupt if they had to put a new engine into every car that is still in use for free. It just could not happen.

This could be avoided if the new fuel format has the same properties as gasoline which would work inside currently existing engines, but that is the only way it would be possible.

[Edited on 2-10-2003 by heelstone]

Considering that it would take some time to replace the petroleum delivery infrastructure with a hydrogen delivery system,there will be a trend toward producing more goods closer to home,all of these dying communities would be re-invigorated and become self supporting communities with more than just an overpriced convenience store and gas station.I remember a time when the businesses were not concentrated solely in cities,when you didn't absolutely have to do the old commute to get to work,it was a whole lot nicer.
The danger is in the possibility of control of the next technology falling into the greedy trembling hands of the greedy bastards who control the petroleum industries now.
A change may be good,but we have to be careful not to let anyone get too big of a cut of the pie like now.
Electricity will be effected as well as autos and other vehicles and modes of transport,since dual fuel utility companies are forced to burn natural gas instead of coal by the EPA,there is a natural gas shortage RIGHT NOW!!!,and it was incorrectly estimated to be more than there is of that too.
The noose is tightening,it's our own fault for putting our heads in it,but I'm not worried.
This just might be part of the big emergency that we all know is coming,are you ready?.

well all we can do is wait and see what happens...

The world is definately not running out of oil and natural gas. This article is trying to stimulate public hysteria for the purpose of imploring officials to invest in alternative energy sources (which i do not find entirely evil).

One of the largest oil and gas deposits ever discovered was found off the coast of Angola last year. Reserves in the Caspian are still abundant as are South China Sea deposits. New discoveries are made every day while old ones are still steadily pumping. Don't listen to this crap, people have been saying we're running out of oil since the 50's. OF COURSE WE ARE, its a renewable resource but it takes a heck of a lot more time to form than to pump out of the ground. None of us will see oil disappear due to over exploitation in our lifetimes, including myself and im 19. We're far more likely to see oil made redundant by new forms of energy

The oil companies will never let oil become " redundant" while they can still make a profit out of selling it.

Only when it starts to really run out, which I honestly think will be sooner than they predict, will they allow other forms of energy to take it's place.

kinda off topic but to the blade runner, your gonna have to be paying for water not as fuel but just for water to live with when the water crisis rises in prevailence

I'm sorry MBS, i disagree. Royal Dutch Shell Oil as well as others are already moving into development of alternative resources, most oil companies do take responsibility for environmental damage (minus exxonmobile) and realize that oil will not be around forever.

Nuclear power would be the most prominant form of energy if liberal minded people would open up to the idea (im pretty liberal by the way, but i can still see the benefit of this form of power). Its not the oil companies who are responsible for the lack of viable energy options, its voters and politicians and limited thinking.

Sure the oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank, but you give them too much credit for creating their own situation. They are not responsible for the lack of alternatively powered vehicles, the automotive manufacturers are. It takes extensive research and design which costs $$. Auto makers are scared of losing footing in the marketplace because they are yet to make a vehicle that performs and looks as good as a petrochemical powered vehicle. Again, it is public perception that limits the growth of green industry, not the oil companies.

Lastly, like I said before we are a LONG ways off from depleting the entire global reserves of oil. People have thought the end was near for over half a century. Don't believe me? pick up a copy of Upstream Newspaper and read about recent DISCOVERIES. visit it online but im sure they dont have the same level of depth and range of articles:

www.upstreamonline.com

Originally posted by insite
Nuclear power would be the most prominant form of energy if liberal minded people would open up to the idea (im pretty liberal by the way, but i can still see the benefit of this form of power). Its not the oil companies who are responsible for the lack of viable energy options, its voters and politicians and limited thinking.

When you live in a cancer cluster a couple hundred miles downstream from a nuclear waste deposit, you'll be thinking very differently.

how about being responsible and digging a massive hole in the desert (which we seem to have alot of here in the US)? putting a nuclear waste disposal area near any water source would of course be an incredibly stupid idea. but hey, the midwest aquifer is drying up quick, there are more and more places to dump this stuff. i would think that consideration of an environmentally sound dumping site would be the primary objective on any plans for a nuclear power plant.

did you consider the carcinogens currently abundant in the atmosphere as a result of burning toxic polymers? who knows how much cancer is catalyzed by this present environmental hazard.

this is exactly what im talking about. people are closed minded to the alternatives, it isnt the oil companies in control. the oil companies sit back and fatten their pockets as the people they supply bitch and moan about what else to do. offer up any solutions? nope, just ignore current technological advances that seem to be staring us in the face.