Is oil ending?
Abstract:
In this paper, the oil shortage problem has been identified. A brief introduction outlines the crucial reason of the demand and supply gap. Quotes from the famous personality’s give the reader a clear view of the oil crisis and its current situation and it has been shrewd estimations have been made. A couple of methods have been mentioned which are being practiced to control oil shortage. The results have been analyzed and concluded accompanied with the necessary recommendations.
Table of Contents
§ Introduction
§ Is oil running out?
§ Oil crises
§ When will oil run out
§ Methods
§ Reduction of oil dependency
§ Introduction of energy saving strategies
§ Restoration of energy resources
§ Maintenance of diplomatic relations with nations
Executive Summary
The oil shortage problem has been a source of anxiety and it is yet an enigma for all the nations. It is clear from the studies that the population is increasing and there is a dire need for the government as well as the public to introduce strategies and methods to overcome the oil shortage problem and simultaneously minimize it as well. It is very important for everyone to realize the significance of oil and hence use it accordingly.
Introduction:
According to the conventional wisdom, humans’ need and want for oil is increasing day by day and soon there will be a time when the companies would not be able to provide sufficient oil and a wide gap is bound to emerge between oil demand and supply. This gap is expected to broaden with passing time because the economies of Europe, Japan and many other emerging nations are growing and at this rate their energy needs will increase too.
Is Oil Running Out?
This question has been bothering many nations since a very long time and the problem has been persisting since ages. President Jimmy Carter in 1979 quoted that oil wells were drying up throughout the world. Last year, New York Times stated that oil reserves were expected to diminish in the decades ahead. Oil prices are increasing day by day with simultaneously decreasing prices. Cheap oil is being sterilized and being sold off in place of quality oil. All this is being done to preserve oil as it is running out. (Smith, 21)
In the words of Cheney (CEO of Halliburton) stated that: “Approximately there will be an average of 2% growth for oil demand annually in the coming years, along with this, a 3 % natural decline will be observed in the production of oil from the reserved areas. This concludes that by 2010, additional 50 million barrels will be needed per day.”
Oil Crisis:
The real oil crisis began in 1973-74. This happened because a couple of Middle Eastern nations mutually agreed to cut down their output. The after effects are persistent and production has been constrained ever since. To avert their eyes from this issue, several American Presidents have made efforts to control oil appetite simultaneously investing in energy production resources. (Campbell, 397)
When Will The Oil Run Out?
Previously it was believed that oil reserves will never run out due to plentiful mineral resources. However it is now being claimed that this will not continue longer. The demand for oil is increasing with each passing day and there are not enough reserves to fulfill the demands. Prices are expected to go up and this is bound to make it more difficult to attain oil. The demand for oil is increasing with each passing day and there are not enough reserves to fulfill the demands. Prices are expected to go up and this is bound to make it more difficult to attain oil. (Roberts, 398)
Methods:
Recent researches show that we are running short of oil reserves and it becoming more and more difficult and crucial to deal and cope up with the upcoming demands. This problem has been analyzed and some methods have been carefully outlined to control this situation. A few of them are mentioned below:
§ Reduction of oil dependency
§ Restoration of energy resources
§ Maintenance of diplomatic relations with nations
§ Introduction of energy saving strategies
Reduction of Oil Dependency:
The need for oil is increasing day by day and to overcome this, the first and the foremost step that needs to be taken is to reduce oil dependency. This can be done by reducing oil use and increasing the use of energy. This needs to done efficiently and effectively. This is considered to be the easiest, cheapest and quickest solution. It is because it is believed that all the other methods will require billions of money, experimentation, expertise and a lot of time. However energy usage can be implemented immediately with efficient use of technology. This plan can include the usage of fuel efficient cars, fluorescent lights, energy savers rather than the regular lights, energy saving buildings as well as windows technologies, solar systems that can support rooftops etc. (Duffield, 290)
Restoration of Energy Resources:
The energy resources can be restored. This can include the restoration of crude oil. An excellent example of this is China national Petroleum Corp’s. This is in collaboration with an organization which gives them the advantage to attain energy more cheaply than the rest of the world. (Rike D. Gunther, 384)
Maintenance of diplomatic relations with nations:
It is also necessary for any nation to maintain good diplomatic relations with other countries especially the ones which particularly deal in this business. This would help nations in sharing the burden and increasing demands of the people.
Introduction of energy saving strategies:
Stress should be laid on the energy saving strategies. For this the energy supplying strategies should not only be environment safe but they should also concentrate and satisfy the core demands of economic growth. The priority of the policy should be to secure supply as well as improve energy efficiency. The companies should emphasize on the drilling factor. This should be done effectively so as to boost the resource production efficiency. (Smith, 103)
Results:
A lot of efforts have been made in the past and are still under consideration. Few strategies and plans have been successful in controlling this problem while others have failed.
All the previous efforts to resolve address oil dependency strategies have failed. This is majorly due to lack of ambition. A lot of stress is being laid on oil imports. This has made the situation vaguer especially when we consider the total reliance of the transporters on oil. It is important to give the public a wider choice between oil and the rest of the fuels.
Nations are emphasizing on the restoration of natural resources other than oil such as crude oil. Many nations have been making affiliations with particular organizations so that they can purchase oil on comparatively cheaper rates. However this is not quite successful, because then they would have to compete with oil’s major competitors. Secondly there is no guarantee that they would be able to deal at cheaper rates just because they are a part of some organization and are involved in the management area.
When we consider energy resources restoration, it is necessary to have import cutoffs rather than increase in oil prices. For this, it is important to maintain good relations with other countries so that a nation can avoid the economic endorsement or even coastal blockages. This strategy is implemented as has proved to be successful so far.
Many nations have utilized the policy of maintaining diplomatic relations with other nations. This has helped them to share the burden and load in oil crisis situation. It also assists them to deal with high demands.
The use of fluorescent lights, energy savers, and efficient energy saving construction etc has proven to control oil usage up to a certain limit. One of the advantages of these strategies is that they utilize minimum money with the provision of maximum profits.
Conclusion:
A few methods have been mentioned above and their results have also been illustrated. It can be concluded from the results that different nations are coming up with various ideas, strategies and formulae to overcome the dilemma of oil shortage. Necessary solutions have been suggested and the ratio of their success and failure is almost equal.
Regulation of oil dependency is indeed worth considering. United States has been making efforts to rely on their own resources rather than on Middle Eastern countries. Nations, especially China is rendering to make develop friendly relations with other nations. This is a pre-requisite since they do not have a strong military support, in case there are military or economic blockades. Cheaper and convenient are being adopted worldwide which has proven to be quite successful.
Recommendations:
From the information provided above, it is clear that it is not only the job of a particular organization or government to regulate and analyze oil shortage problem. We need to do it on individual level too and make the necessary efforts. It is the responsibility of every individual to utilize the oil resources efficiently and not waste them. Money taken from the oil companies should only be utilized in the financing energy producing and energy producing technologies. It should not be wasted on the purchase of coal and ethanol subsidies. The auto fleet should be transformed with the federal purchase of plug in hybrid vehicles, funds should be provided to the automakers s that they can make an investment in fuel-saving technologies and fuel economy standards should be automatically increased annually.
The fuel supply should be transformed by asking the oil companies to retrofit gas pumps for ethanol supply. Ethanol subsidy needs to be adjusted in times of rise and fall in oil prices. The import tariff for the import of ethanol needs to phase out for the producers meeting social and environmental standards and government should encourage and support lower prices for off peak electricity.
Funds should be collected and maximum investments should be made in research regarding advancement in the energy technologies. This step needs to be taken because it is easy to introduce and develop new ideas for the restoration and preservation of oil rather than controlling it. Innovation of new technologies would definitely bring about a revolution. It would assist in the regulation of oil with minimum resources required.
The government should emphasize on strategies that would put oil to its maximum use with minimal wastage. Solar energy cars should be introduced. This would prove to be helpful for the public as well as the oil companies. Oil reserves would be retained for a longer period and this would ultimately benefit the economy.
Works Cited
Campbell. J. Oil Crisis. New York. Multi Science Publishing. (2005)
Duffield. J. Over a Barrel: The Costs of US Foreign Oil Dependence. Stanford. Stanford University Press. (2008)
Gunther. R. solar Power Your Home for Dummies. Stanford. Stanford Press. (2007)
Robert. P. The End of Oil. London. Mariner Books. (2005)
Smith. G. Is the Oil Running Out? Oxford. CERA. (2002)
Smith. G. The Energy Saving Guidebook. University of Michigan. Technomic Publishers Co. (2007)
