Crude World : The Violent Twilight Of Oil

In terms of oil dependence, most of the general public believes that the world has enough oil to support us for the next hundred years; in truth we are rapidly depleting our petroleum sources due to the increasing population and demand. In fact, as was initially theorized by the Hubbert Peak Theory in 1950, Earth peaked in oil supplies in 1973 and the largest oil resources that have been discovered since then have been in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Here it must be

In our society, oil is one of the core requirements. Whether it is to drive from a point A to a point B or to fly between distant countries, oil always had a fundamental impact on our civilization. Its impact is felt, on a daily basis and under many aspects. Not a day goes by without hearing about the Brent's changing undulation, on the markets in New York or London. Some have thought that the desire to gain control of Iran's oil resources was the core of the CIA's intervention in that country, in the 1950s. In recent years, it was considered, by left-wing groups, that the war in Iraq was based upon an attempt of foreign control over the Iraqi petroleum resources. Even though both events have an unquestioned place

Oil production is crucial for humans. Overall, 33 out of 48 countries have now hit a peak in oil production, resulting that oil is going to hit a decline in production. This peak is in countries such as Mexico and Russia, potentially signifying the end of the Industrial revolution. However, oil itself is not running out, just the rich, thick oils, that are high quality. In the near future, the only oil that Earth will have will be thin, and not good enough to use in motor vehicles or for electricity. Additionally, cheap and easy to extract oil will be at a decline, and also oil will be in unaccessible places, or within dangerous areas. Oil production needs to stay at pace with the human demand.

It is estimated that 1.3 trillion barrels of oil reserve is left in the world’s major fields (Institution of Mechanical Engineers 2015). At present rates of consumption this will be enough oil to last approximately 40 years. By 2040, it is intended for production levels may be down to 15 million barrels per day which is approximately 20% of the amount of oil which is currently being consumed (Institution of Mechanical Engineers 2015). It is likely by the year 2040 that the world’s population will be twice as large (United States Census Bureau 2015). Additionally, it is likely that more of the world will be industrialized and therefore more dependent upon oil.

“Global oil production will continue to grow as conventional supplies are increasingly complemented by unconventional sources to meet demand. Physical production limits (so‐called ‘peak oil’) are unlikely to be reached before 2035.”

The global spread of oil drilling is connected to the reasons why oil was first exploited in the first place; it was plentiful, it had the highest energy density per weight, it was not already being exploited. Chief to the purpose of this paper on oil drilling lies in the words was and had. The fact that those words are in the past, and the idea that things superior to oil have come along, is something that needs to be brought up more often. The fact is that oil, as a resource, is simply out of date. The addiction that humanity has to ‘black gold’ is unprecedented in the history of mankind, and the reasons why this addiction is more dangerous than any standard addiction are numerous.

The first section sets the foundation for Roberts’ discussion by discussing the current environment surrounding the oil business. According to Roberts, energy is related to flourishing and decline of the human race. Only when a community has the ability to provide enough energy to meet the demand of the population can that community thrive (Roberts 2004). Roberts argues this correlation explains how and why the international community has become dependent on oil. The second section discusses the present situation and introduces what Roberts calls the energy order, which is a term that describes a social hierarchical ranking of countries based off of their energy consumption, their ability to produce or access to oil. The third and final part combines the discussion of parts one and two in relation to the future. Roberts argues that the current model with currently have is not working and offers a discussion on transitioning to a new model with less demand for oil. In order for this to occur, the United States, which consumes the most energy annually and has enough political and economic influence, must lead the way (Roberts

The oil age has become an age of inequality. The discovery of oil has brought the wealth of a few people, and has brought misery to most people. Many oil rich countries suffer from the distortion of the economic development, the financial instability, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the serious

Over many decades oil has supplied the global market with a realatively inexpensive method to provide energy and countless products. Without oil the world would not be as well developed as it is today. Large countries such as the USA and China thrive off oil and without it would come to abrubt halt. [1]

The growing oil scarcity in the early 21st Century and its possible implications on the global economy, including economic growth, inflation, food security and poverty, is a subject that has been widely well known and discussed by a plethora of scientists and economists. Peak oil, a term coined by M. King Hubbert in 1965, is generally defined as “the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to incline forever”(Hirsch et al., 2005). By their finite nature, there is no argument over whether fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal – will go scarce, but rather when this will occur, whether alternative energy supplies will meet the ever-increasing demand, and how best to oversee such a transition. The failure to do so could result in a profound word-wide economic crisis leading to lower economic standards in developed and developing countries alike. Cuba, one of the only countries that has faced such a crisis yet, is an example of options and hope.

In this world, there are pointless wars going on for oil, money, and power. Pointless economic wars throughout the countries going on and for what? The government has been providing only a fraction of the free energy sources they have to keep the oil field booming: and to make matters worse, corporate cities are watching as the president and foreign countries scam the U.S. citizens and continue to destroy the earth with harmful chemicals, while individuals continue to attempt to prove conspiracy after conspiracy because nobody is standing up to oil industries destroying our planet.

Peak oil is described as the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction is reached, and at this point we assist to a diminution of the resource. Oil is one of the world 's most vital resource, we use it in every aspect of our daily lives, we use it for electricity, gasoline and even drugs. The disappearance of this resource can lead to a major global disaster. In an attempt to identify the potential impact of such a disaster and find alternatives energetic resources, a cloud of researchers started to focus their research around this topic. While the first researches made on peak oil where mostly focused on its plausibility, nowadays researches concentrate on determining the exact period of occurrence, as well as the economic and political impact of this event.

Our dependence on oil renders us politically vulnerable. "Oil prices are global, and as Woolsey points out, the US has no domestic leverage. Greatly increasing our own offshore oil drilling could lower imports a little, but it won't lower world prices; it is too easy for OPEC to manipulate production to offset the effects of any new US supply" (Fischetti 2011). The world's biodiversity is threatened because of the developed world's addiction to oil (Friedman 2008: 141). Major investments in green technology are the only way to alter this state of affairs.

Oil is an important component in many industries and the majority of global energy needs are generated by oil. Hence, it is unsurprising that the annual global consumption of oil is around 30 billion barrels and it accounts for around one-third of all energy consumed . According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are the top 2 countries with the most proven crude oil reserves and over 90% of their export revenues come from oil . In addition, since 1980, OPEC’s share of oil revenue in total exports has been consistently over 60%, with the net export revenue at US$730 billion . Hence any disturbance in the oil sector will cause a drastic impact on these economies. This can be illustrated in research where it has provided evidence for a negative relationship between resource abundance and growth. For instance, since the 1970s, Nigeria has been exporting around $10billion worth of oil annually but during same period the proportion of its population living on less than $1 per day has doubled from 36% to 70% (Sala-I-Martin and Subramanian, 2003). Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that there can also be a positive relationship. Countries rich in oil, such as Malaysia and Norway have managed to achieve sustained economic growth.

Because private companies and nations have over-estimated oil reserves it is difficult to be exact but these estimates of world oil reserves are close and further research will reflect this. Also, rapid exploitation may have damaged many reserves' wells and will limit production. It may be that we (the world) have much less than is believed! The United States past its "peak oil" point back in the early 1970's ( for further research refer to Peak Oil Crisis Books) and now imports about two-thirds (2/3) of its oil. The U.S. economy and the current American way of life is supported by energy from other nations. Those nations that have not already past peak oil (maximum production) are very near it. In the future, production will decrease while at the same time demand increases. The spread between supply and demand will cause higher prices (for all products),