The US has just 21 billion bbl of proven oil reserves, down 44% from 39 billion in 1970. That's just 2% of the world's proven reserves. The world is consuming 25 billion bbl of oil a year, but discovering only 7 billion. In fact, every year for the past couple of decades the industry has pumped more oil than it has discovered. Since the mid-1980s, the world's daily oil consumption has jumped over 35%-while oil production has climbed only 10%. Oil discoveries peaked in the early 1960s, and 80% of today's production comes from fields discovered before 1973. And many of these older oil fields are producing less and less, while replacement fields are increasingly scarce. We better remember that oil is crucially important. It's the only commodity wars are fought over. And OPEC controls more than 60% of the world's oil, and over the next decade, that percentage will steadily increase-a dangerous scenario of growing dependence on the volatile Middle East. Moreover, upswings in energy prices will have a tremendous impact on economic growth and the stock market.
Dailey J. Berard
President
Universal Fabricators, LLC
New Iberia, La.
