SCI/TECH: Is The World's Oil Running Out?

Well, I've read estimates of our world oil supply running out as soon as 2010, or as late as 2100. So which extreme is it? Or is it somewhere in the middle?

Originally posted by ThunderCloud
First of all, the Earth's crust is 50 miles thick; our deepest drills can barely go more than a mile deep.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the average Oil Well depth in the US in 2001 was 1.8 miles.
In 2002 the average depth was 2.5 miles.

EIA.DOE.gov

The fact that they're having to go so deep shows there is a problem finding easily accessible resources.

Originally posted by ThunderCloud
No, we're not running out of oil.

First of all, the Earth's crust is 50 miles thick; our deepest drills can barely go more than a mile deep.

Whether or not the depth of our deepest drills is accurate or not, there is only a certain window of depth that oil can be found. The rocks that oil comes from have to pass through that depth. If they don't get deep enough, you get coal. If they get too deep, the complex hydrocarbon molecules crack apart, and you don't have oil anymore. Our drills can easily get through this layer. We know that there cannot be any oil deeper than our drills can go, because the heat and pressure crack the molecules. So, then, we can consider the depth of the oil irrelevant. That, coupled with the fact that oil is non-renewable, (It was previously stated correctly that yes, we can synthesize oil, but it takes more energy than it produces.) means that we started running out the minute we first struck oil. As I stated in my previous post, it isn't that we are going to run completely out of oil. It's that the oil that's in the ground will become increasingly expensive and difficult to extract, and, by the economic laws of supply and demand, that will cause the price of oil, gas, plastics, food, and anything else that requires petroleum in any way to skyrocket. (Before you ask, modern agriculture is extremely dependant on oil for transportation, fertilizers and pesticides. So, yes, food gets more expensive, too)

So, then, it's cheap oil that's going away. And soon. The Saudi figures are highly suspect, when you consider OPEC's quota system. And the concept of "Proven Reserves" is also iffy at best.

But don't believe me. Check it out for yourself. Check your sources. I'd recommend anything from Matt Simmons, Kenneth Deffeyes, or Colin Campbell.

It's good reading, and ya might learn something. Good luck.

It is obvious oil is running out, ofcoarse it depends what oil you are talking about
We need to start sticking ot new energy sources.

If nuclear power becomes cheap enough (say if they ever get efficient fusion plants going, a goal to which they're getting closer recently), then even if it takes more energy input for the artificial petrol reaction than is yielded from the petrol, it could still be cost-effective.

Can anyone give an overview of the process and its costs (energy and $)?