Running out of oil

Nov. 15, 1999
Kudos to Mr. Dailey Berard of Universal Fabricators for his insightful letters on world oil supply (OGJ, Aug. 9, 1999, p. 8; Aug. 16, 1999, p. 10; Oct. 11, 1999, p. 6).

Kudos to Mr. Dailey Berard of Universal Fabricators for his insightful letters on world oil supply (OGJ, Aug. 9, 1999, p. 8; Aug. 16, 1999, p. 10; Oct. 11, 1999, p. 6). Hopefully his letters will open the eyes of some Democratic presidential hopefuls that are currently opposed to drilling off every US coastline except Louisiana and Texas. These not-so-informed individuals should consider the following:

  1. World oil discoveries peaked in the 1960s.
  2. World oil production will peak in the next 10 years.
  3. US oil production peaked in the mid 1970s.
  4. The US currently imports 60% of its oil, mostly from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Mexico
  5. Nearly 64% of the world's remaining oil is in five Persian Gulf countries.
  6. Saudi Arabia alone has more proved oil reserves than all non-OPEC countries combined.
  7. There is roughly 1,039 billion bbl of oil remaining worldwide.
  8. The world is finding only 7 billion bbl of new oil each year.
  9. The world is consuming more than 26 billion bbl of oil each year.
  10. The world could theoretically run out of oil by the year 2050.

When the US has to import over 85% of its oil in the next 10-15 years, only then will the Washington nay-sayers be in favor of drilling off California, Florida, and the East Coast. I'm afraid it will be too late by then, and the US will be held hostage due to Middle East-imposed oil embargoes and suffer from interrupted exports due to political unrest in Central and South American countries.

Jeffrey R. Hughes
President
HTK Consultants Inc.
Spring, Tex.