Endless Oil?

[ILAveo]

Oil may be "endless", but that misses the point that it is only valuable so long as it can be produced and used cheaper than the substances that would replace it. I expect use of biomass as chemical feedstocks to become cheaper over time and and the cost of oil production dearer. This should make "endless" oil much less than endlessly valuable.

[dr61]

Originally Posted by echoman

It always seems funny to me that we need oil for almost everything in are lives, but we burn something like a 3rd of it. If we were to stop wasting it, ie use EVs instead of gas, like this and use it for stuff that we need, that would also help oil stocks stay full longer.

Actually we burn more like 3/4's of the oil extracted. Most other uses of oil allow for at least some recycling of hydrocarbon components (plastics and lubricants, for example).

In this graph, the light blue, blue and yellow areas represent mostly burning of oil (transportation, electrical generation, and heating):

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/p...ons_sector.htm

[phoebeisis]

You don't need oil for plastic/polymers, but it is certainly the cheapest source of building material. Those starting molecules can be grown and modified before binding them together-more expensive than starting with oil of course.

[echoman]

Originally Posted by dr61

Actually we burn more like 3/4's of the oil extracted. Most other uses of oil allow for at least some recycling of hydrocarbon components (plastics and lubricants, for example).

In this graph, the light blue, blue and yellow areas represent mostly burning of oil (transportation, electrical generation, and heating):

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/p...ons_sector.htm

I just finished a book called, why your world is about to get a whole lot smaller by Jeff Rubin. Its about cheap oil and what will happpen to are culture if it was to expensive. I highly recommend it to anyone.

[xcel]

Hi All:

___Wow, endless oil and they cannot find it in the US for some reason? Alaska output is still down over 70% from its glory days in the late 80’s?

___At least 65% dependant on foreign oil sources and still counting

___Something else I found when reading this last night, $40 to $50/bbl to extract. Do you know how much NG is being used to heat the water, soap, emulsifiers before it gets pumped down into the wells? When we use more energy to extract and refine crude then if we consumed NG or Electricity to drive our vehicles directly. This Ponzi scheme is getting to be ridiculous!

___In any case, the more we find puts the day of reckoning that much further out which is a god thing as we head to a day when the "black goo" is more a hindrance than a useful product.

___Good Luck

___Wayne