Declining supplies of crude oil will cause massive changes in our economy. Due to the rampant increase in people driving, the growing demand for gasoline alone is a monumental concern. Gas prices are influenced by many factors, including the world’s oil supply. The truth is, there is probably more oil to be discovered somewhere, but the costs of drilling it in remote areas or deep on the ocean floor will be too expensive. It will be too expensive to find; we will not be able to pay it. Most likely, rising costs will force us to develop other energy sources.
Oil companies begin to explore for oil in the easiest places, which costs less to drill and bring to the surface. They go to the areas closest to their refineries to cut transportation costs. This allows the costs for the end consumer to be kept in line. Once nearby locations are depleted, oil companies go elsewhere to find oil that could be more difficult to harvest. If the supply of oil continues to be increasingly difficult to find, unfortunately, it will continue to become increasingly expensive.
However, there is always the possibility that surprising good news will also emerge. Recently, scientists at Cornell University discovered a huge amount of oil off the coast of Louisiana. The find is about 60 billion barrels or three times more than the current US recoverable oil of 20 billion barrels. This discovery should bring total US oil reserves to 80 billion barrels, which is on par with Venezuela. Compared to other finds around the world, this is twice the size of all the oil found in the North Sea and six times larger than estimates from the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil deposits.
A new oil discovery method known as “gas scrubbing” was used to find this approximately 10,000 square mile area. It was found under layers of salt domes. With this method, geologists can track the movement of oil deposits by the way they interact with the flow of natural gas. It helps scientists make extremely accurate 3D seismic maps of deep underground oil deposits and mitigate the risk involved in drilling such deep water wells.
A team led by a Cornell chemical geologist and funded by a grant from Chevron discovered the oil with information gathered from source rocks in the deep sea. Due to the devastation left by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there is a critical shortage of equipment and manpower to do the kind of recovery work necessary to bring the oil to the surface. Crews are currently working hard to bring the necessary equipment to the area for further testing. It is estimated that it will not be until 2010 before oil is pumped from the area found.
Oil companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corporation are always pleased when new oil discoveries are made in the United States. Of course, it is discoveries like this that make the United States self-sufficient and contribute to being less dependent on foreign oil. So what will happen when we run out of oil? Maybe we won’t.
