How is the world's supply of oil NOT depleted? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Stompy · 05-12-2004, 09:48 AM

Think about all the MILLIONS of cars not only in this country, but others who fuel up with all those gallons of fuel.

All the commercial airplanes & flights around the world, etc etc...

Let's give a flat number... say 2 million cars a day fill up 10 gallons of gas.. and has been that way for 50 years.

2,000,000 cars * 10 gallons of gas = 20,000,000 gallons of gas PER DAY.

7,300,000,000 gallons of gas a year.

365,000,000,000 gallons of gas used over 50 years.

Now, this isn't counting all the OTHER things mentioned before (planes, battleships, you name it).
The world is only so big, so how is the oil supply NOT depleted?

Charlatan · 05-12-2004, 10:29 AM

There really IS a lot of the stuff in the ground...

...the issue isn't a shortage the issue is 1) distribution of that oil... who has it and who doesn't. People go to war over this. 2) Air quality. We need to stop burning fossil fuels...

llama8 · 05-12-2004, 12:24 PM

For an idea of how much oil there is the companies only find it useful to talk about oil in terms of millions and billions of barrels.

There is a whole lot of that black stuff!

rsl12 · 05-12-2004, 02:02 PM

stompy: if people had the oil-drilling technology 100 years ago that they have today, I'm sure it would have been depleted long ago. As it is, new technology allows us to find and retrieve oil that we didn't realize was possible before. For the last 50 years, the known oil reserves has always been about "20 years worth". If suddenly technology development were to stop today, we'd have about 20 years of oil to go before it would be completely finished. Just as long as technology keeps pace, we can keep walking the tightrope...

kutulu · 05-12-2004, 02:11 PM

there's also the amount that is technically recovereable, economically recoverable, and the actual amount of oil there.

There is no shortage of oil right now. There is plenty of oil readily available. The problem is that certain groups of nations have slowed production so much with the intentions of keeping prices high. Add that to the fact that refineries have been shut down, oil companies keep as little on hand as possible, and the fact that there are several blends of gasoline available. There may be plenty of gas that is allowed to be sold in New Mexico, but you might not be able to sell that gas in California. This makes the false shortages even worse.

If we had one national blend of gasoline that was used year-round it would do a lot to lower prices, at least temporarily.

iamnormal · 05-12-2004, 02:57 PM

It is converted into carbon in the air. The plants take the carbon from the air and makes solid form of it. The plants die and in a couple hundred of millions years we will have oil again.
One miner problem is we take out more carbon from the ground and put it in the air than the plants can put back into the ground.

llama8 · 05-12-2004, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by iamnormal
It is converted into carbon in the air. The plants take the carbon from the air and makes solid form of it. The plants die and in a couple hundred of millions years we will have oil again.
One miner problem is we take out more carbon from the ground and put it in the air than the plants can put back into the ground.

I was always under the impression that Oil comes from a type of prehistoric animal that used photosynthesis? So a 1/2 plant 1/2 animal if you will

The true plants and trees formed coal? Maybe I'm wrong and secondary teaching let me seriously down!

05-12-2004, 03:27 PM

There is more oil in the world now then ever before. They are even finding it in places that would have been ruled out as scientificly impossible. When they start oil drilling in the arctic we will have another huge. abundant source of oil.

iamnormal · 05-12-2004, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by llama8
I was always under the impression that Oil comes from a type of prehistoric animal that used photosynthesis? So a 1/2 plant 1/2 animal if you will

The true plants and trees formed coal? Maybe I'm wrong and secondary teaching let me seriously down!

I guess I over simplefide what I said.
Let me add The plants take the carbon from the air the animal eats the plant and the bigger animal eats the smaller animal. Then they all die and become oil in a couple hundred of millions years.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/non-renewable/oil.html

NotMinus, 3-1 doesn't = 4

Giltwist · 05-12-2004, 03:49 PM

I believe the difference in whether something becomes oil or coal is the heat and pressure involved in the decomposition.

Also, gas isn't pure oil. It's mixed with other things, though I couldn't tell you what. Two main chemical components of gasolene are cyclohexane and toluene. Thank you organic chemistry.

kutulu · 05-12-2004, 04:06 PM

Gas is a blend, but it's a blend of different organics (mostly in the C6-C7 range) that are produced by distilling crude oil. The cyclohexane, benzene, toluene, etc are components in the crude oil. We separate them from the oil and then add other reagents to make it gasoline.

When you distill crude oil, you get a multitude of products. For the most part, you get gas fuels such as propane and butane, volatile fuel (gasoline) and non-volatile fuels like diesel fuel, jet fuel, and heating oil.

Natural gas is also ususally extracted along with oil. According to a friend of mine who is an engineer at a oil field, when natural gas was not in such demand, they'd just burn it right there and get rid of it. Nowdays, they cryo-distill it to produce methane and ethane.

iamnormal · 05-12-2004, 04:23 PM

Petroleum

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=petroleum

Quote:

pe·tro·le·um
n.
A thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the earth's surface, can be separated into fractions including natural gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils, paraffin wax, and asphalt and is used as raw material for a wide variety of derivative products.

petroleum

n : a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons [syn: crude oil, crude, coal oil, rock oil, fossil oil]

http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/o...ion=Search+OMD

Quote:

petroleum
Rock oil, mineral oil, or natural oil, a dark brown or greenish inflammable liquid, which, at certain points, exists in the upper strata of the earth, from whence it is pumped, or forced by pressure of the gas attending it. It consists of a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the methane series, but may vary much in appearance, composition, and properties. It is refined by distillation, and the products include kerosene, benzine, gasoline, paraffin, etc. Petroleum spirit, a volatile liquid obtained in the distillation of crude petroleum at a temperature of 170 deg Fahr, or below. The term is rather loosely applied to a considerable range of products, including benzine and ligroin. The terms petroleum ether, and naphtha, are sometimes applied to the still more volatile products, including rhigolene, gasoline, cymogene, etc.

Origin: NL, fr. L. Petra a rock + oleum oil: cf. F. Petrole. Cf. Petrify, and Oil.

Source: Websters Dictionary

(01 Mar 1998)

kazoo · 05-12-2004, 06:25 PM

Silly stuff you remember from grade school: Based on atomic structure, the cracking process produces: methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, and decane.

LowRider · 05-14-2004, 04:55 PM

To say that we are running out of oil is to assume that we have found ALL of the possible sources. I have never read or heard a logical argument that we have done so.

iamnormal · 05-14-2004, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LowRider
To say that we are running out of oil is to assume that we have found ALL of the possible sources. I have never read or heard a logical argument that we have done so.

lets say plants take out 1 carbon from the air a year.
We take 1 carbon form the ground and 1 carbon from plants and put it into the air.
-1+2=1
We have an surplus amount of carbon in the air each year that just keeps adding to its self.

We are basically reversing the process that created life on this planet.

Do you know what the opposite of life is?

tntenson · 05-15-2004, 02:11 PM

What economists think of the oil problem.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/...n1/v27n1-1.pdf

macmanmike6100 · 05-17-2004, 08:51 PM

somebody's probably already said this, but there is a LOT of oil in the ground, and that's just what we know. the issue, of course, is that eventually we will run out, especially given an increasing usage rate.

mofunk · 05-18-2004, 08:11 PM

IT all comes down to economics. There will always be oil on earth. It just depends on how costly it is to extract. As we deplete the easiest resources to obtain, we must find new (and usually more costly) methods of obtaining oil. An overused example (but one I'm going to use anyways) is the tar sands. They contain lots of oil, but it is very costly to extract oil from these sands. Currently, it costs more to extract than the price of oil. But eventually, these tar sands will become an economically viable resource. (and then Canada will have gigantic plots of land strip mined for this crap, making huge ugly holes bigger than cities .... but thats another story).

And the reason that this oil is so abundant is because it comes from previous life, and there has been a helluva lot of it. The world constantly impresses me.

Oh, and a lot of it is also what the Cato report says. The resource elimination is a much longer term thing.

jwoody · 05-19-2004, 06:04 AM

The CIA World Factbook gives estimates on each country's oil consumption, production and proven reserves.

Here's what they say about Saudi Arabia:

Oil - production:
8.711 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
1.452 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:
261.7 billion bbl

...and the USA:

Oil - production:
8.054 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
19.65 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:
22.45 billion bbl

...and China:

Oil - production:
3.3 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
4.975 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:
26.75 billion bbl (37257)

05-12-2004, 09:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
Stompy Banned from being Banned Location: Donkey	How is the world's supply of oil NOT depleted? Think about all the MILLIONS of cars not only in this country, but others who fuel up with all those gallons of fuel. All the commercial airplanes & flights around the world, etc etc... Let's give a flat number... say 2 million cars a day fill up 10 gallons of gas.. and has been that way for 50 years. 2,000,000 cars * 10 gallons of gas = 20,000,000 gallons of gas PER DAY. 7,300,000,000 gallons of gas a year. 365,000,000,000 gallons of gas used over 50 years. Now, this isn't counting all the OTHER things mentioned before (planes, battleships, you name it). The world is only so big, so how is the oil supply NOT depleted? __________________ I love lamp.

05-12-2004, 10:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	There really IS a lot of the stuff in the ground... ...the issue isn't a shortage the issue is 1) distribution of that oil... who has it and who doesn't. People go to war over this. 2) Air quality. We need to stop burning fossil fuels... __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

05-12-2004, 02:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
rsl12 On the lam Location: northern va	stompy: if people had the oil-drilling technology 100 years ago that they have today, I'm sure it would have been depleted long ago. As it is, new technology allows us to find and retrieve oil that we didn't realize was possible before. For the last 50 years, the known oil reserves has always been about "20 years worth". If suddenly technology development were to stop today, we'd have about 20 years of oil to go before it would be completely finished. Just as long as technology keeps pace, we can keep walking the tightrope... __________________ oh baby oh baby, i like gravy.

05-12-2004, 03:49 PM	#10 (permalink)
Giltwist Insane Location: Pennsylvania	I believe the difference in whether something becomes oil or coal is the heat and pressure involved in the decomposition. Also, gas isn't pure oil. It's mixed with other things, though I couldn't tell you what. Two main chemical components of gasolene are cyclohexane and toluene. Thank you organic chemistry. Last edited by Giltwist; 05-12-2004 at 03:51 PM..

05-12-2004, 04:06 PM	#11 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	Gas is a blend, but it's a blend of different organics (mostly in the C6-C7 range) that are produced by distilling crude oil. The cyclohexane, benzene, toluene, etc are components in the crude oil. We separate them from the oil and then add other reagents to make it gasoline. When you distill crude oil, you get a multitude of products. For the most part, you get gas fuels such as propane and butane, volatile fuel (gasoline) and non-volatile fuels like diesel fuel, jet fuel, and heating oil. Natural gas is also ususally extracted along with oil. According to a friend of mine who is an engineer at a oil field, when natural gas was not in such demand, they'd just burn it right there and get rid of it. Nowdays, they cryo-distill it to produce methane and ethane. Last edited by kutulu; 05-12-2004 at 04:08 PM..

05-12-2004, 12:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
llama8 Crazy Location: Leicester, UK	For an idea of how much oil there is the companies only find it useful to talk about oil in terms of millions and billions of barrels. There is a whole lot of that black stuff!

05-12-2004, 02:11 PM	#5 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	there's also the amount that is technically recovereable, economically recoverable, and the actual amount of oil there. There is no shortage of oil right now. There is plenty of oil readily available. The problem is that certain groups of nations have slowed production so much with the intentions of keeping prices high. Add that to the fact that refineries have been shut down, oil companies keep as little on hand as possible, and the fact that there are several blends of gasoline available. There may be plenty of gas that is allowed to be sold in New Mexico, but you might not be able to sell that gas in California. This makes the false shortages even worse. If we had one national blend of gasoline that was used year-round it would do a lot to lower prices, at least temporarily.

05-12-2004, 02:57 PM	#6 (permalink)
iamnormal Addict Location: In the id	It is converted into carbon in the air. The plants take the carbon from the air and makes solid form of it. The plants die and in a couple hundred of millions years we will have oil again. One miner problem is we take out more carbon from the ground and put it in the air than the plants can put back into the ground.

05-12-2004, 03:27 PM	#8 (permalink)
NotMinus Guest	There is more oil in the world now then ever before. They are even finding it in places that would have been ruled out as scientificly impossible. When they start oil drilling in the arctic we will have another huge. abundant source of oil.

05-12-2004, 06:25 PM	#13 (permalink)
kazoo Psycho Location: Where the night things are	Silly stuff you remember from grade school: Based on atomic structure, the cracking process produces: methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, and decane. __________________ There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity -Big Daddy

05-14-2004, 04:55 PM	#14 (permalink)
LowRider Upright	To say that we are running out of oil is to assume that we have found ALL of the possible sources. I have never read or heard a logical argument that we have done so.

05-15-2004, 02:11 PM	#16 (permalink)
tntenson Tilted	What economists think of the oil problem. http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/...n1/v27n1-1.pdf

05-17-2004, 08:51 PM	#17 (permalink)
macmanmike6100 High Honorary Junkie Location: Tri-state.	somebody's probably already said this, but there is a LOT of oil in the ground, and that's just what we know. the issue, of course, is that eventually we will run out, especially given an increasing usage rate.

05-18-2004, 08:11 PM	#18 (permalink)
mofunk Upright	IT all comes down to economics. There will always be oil on earth. It just depends on how costly it is to extract. As we deplete the easiest resources to obtain, we must find new (and usually more costly) methods of obtaining oil. An overused example (but one I'm going to use anyways) is the tar sands. They contain lots of oil, but it is very costly to extract oil from these sands. Currently, it costs more to extract than the price of oil. But eventually, these tar sands will become an economically viable resource. (and then Canada will have gigantic plots of land strip mined for this crap, making huge ugly holes bigger than cities .... but thats another story). And the reason that this oil is so abundant is because it comes from previous life, and there has been a helluva lot of it. The world constantly impresses me. Oh, and a lot of it is also what the Cato report says. The resource elimination is a much longer term thing. Last edited by mofunk; 05-18-2004 at 08:15 PM..

05-19-2004, 06:04 AM	#19 (permalink)
jwoody Shackle Me Not Location: Newcastle - England.	The CIA World Factbook gives estimates on each country's oil consumption, production and proven reserves. Here's what they say about Saudi Arabia: Oil - production: 8.711 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Oil - consumption: 1.452 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Oil - proved reserves: 261.7 billion bbl ...and the USA: Oil - production: 8.054 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Oil - consumption: 19.65 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Oil - proved reserves: 22.45 billion bbl ...and China: Oil - production: 3.3 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Oil - consumption: 4.975 million bbl/day (2001 est.) Oil - proved reserves: 26.75 billion bbl (37257) __________________ .