Is the World Running Out of Oil?

Oil is one of the most common energy sources that are present today. Oil demands are always going up as the production of oil is said to be declining because of the lack of oil resources. Two things must be defined in order to understand what is happening with regard to the oil crisis in the world—oil reserve and oil resources. Oil reserve is the part of the extractable oil resource. Oil reserves are those that producers use to supply their consumers. An example would be the oil reserves of the Middle East. Oil resource, on the other hand, is the total of all fuels in the world. It maybe an explored resource or an unknown resource by which technologies are needed in order to obtain it (Deming). Even though advances in technology are very evident today, we cannot still find a suitable alternative to oil.

Oil as a Non-renewable Energy Source

            It sounds contradicting that oil as non-renewable source of energy can actually be reproduced. Indeed, oil can be reproduced, so one may wonder how this occurs. The answer lies in the formation of petroleum. Petroleum is a general term used to identify carbon by-products such as oil and natural gases. Petroleum is a natural product of the earth. Petroleum can be obtained simply from dead marine organisms that settled in the bottom of the bodies of water. The settled materials will then be transformed into sedimentary rocks. This cycle happens over and over again, making the bottom part of the pile up a source of petroleum. The bottom part of the pile up is called the source rock. Source rocks, when exposed to certain amount of heat and pressure, will produce the so-called oil. However, when exposed to a lower heat and pressure, source rocks will yield less oil and much more natural gas. Also, a normal source rock can produce 2% petroleum while a good source rock can contain up to 5% petroleum. The drawback of the formation of the petroleum is that the cycle happens between 10 and more than 300 million years (Billig and Iroff). Since petroleum is created in 10 to 300 million years, the petroleum reserves today will not be replenish after the said time is reached.

Finding Oil Reserves

            Due to the increase in oil consumption, the need to find a new oil reserve is very important to meet the demands of the consumers worldwide. Oil miners are now on the hunt for plays to meet the demands of the consumers worldwide.

Play is the term of geographers for a location containing high possibility of oil or gas. An important feature of a play is its high pressure due to the formation of petroleum. As said earlier, in order to form petroleum, a high amount or level of heat and pressure is usually needed. Another significant feature is the presence of porous rocks. Porous rocks serve as an outlet for the by-products. The porous rocks are covered by very hard rocks that serve as a protection to keep all the by-products in place (Billig and Iroff).

            Certain tools are used in order to find a play. Geological analysis, gravity and magnetic analysis, and seismic surveys are the common tools used to detect plays. Also, smell sensors which is tuned to detect only oil and exploring drills are also used. But one of the most interesting tools that are used to determine a play is the thumper truck. This tool uses vibrations that are sent to the ground. The returning vibrations will then be measured to determine if a play is on the location (Billig and Iroff).

Status of Oil in the Earth

            Since the actual number of the total oil resources in the earth cannot be determined, we cannot say that the earth is really running out of oil. However, according to the statistics, if another oil reserve cannot be found, the oil reserves will be exhausted by the year 2056 (Deming). Hence, the problem lies in the over reliance of the modern world on oil. Nevertheless, the available alternatives to oil today shed light on the problem with the current status of oil resources in the world. For instance, hydrogen fuel may be a good choice in replacing the oil. This would not only keep the air pollution on earth at bay, but it can also assist every living thing that depends on earth to live (Bush). Technological advances still cannot cope up to the needs of the people here on earth. Certain innovations and advancements are still needed so that one can take away its dependence on oil. If properly done, people on earth might zero its dependence on oil.

Works Cited

Billig, Jonathan and Anna Iroff. “How Oil is Formed and Found?” Oil Drilling Practices in Alaska. 07 December 2005. Columbia University. 05 November 2008 <http://www.columbia.edu/~ari2102/Oil%20Formation/Oil%20Formation2.html>.

Bush, Jr., George. Remarks. Hydrogen Fuel Initiative Can Make “Fundamental Difference”.

The National Building Museum, Washington, D.C. 6 February 2003. 05 November 2008 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030206-12.html>.

Deming, David. “Are We Running Out of Oil?.” Policy Backgrounder 159. 29 January 2003. National Center for Policy Analysis. 05 November 2008 <http://www.ncpa.org/pub/bg/bg159/index.html#b>.