Cheap gas not in a future with 21st century oil
A sign shows gas prices at more than $5 a gallon for all three grades at an Exxon service station March 13, 2012, in Washington. / Getty Images
(TomDispatch) Oil prices are now higher than they have ever been -- except for a few frenzied moments before the global economic meltdown of 2008. Many immediate factors are contributing to this surge, including Iran's threats to block oil shipping in the Persian Gulf, fears of a new Middle Eastern war, and turmoil in energy-rich Nigeria. Some of these pressures could ease in the months ahead, providing temporary relief at the gas pump. But the principal cause of higher prices -- a fundamental shift in the structure of the oil industry -- cannot be reversed, and so oil prices are destined to remain high for a long time to come.
In energy terms, we are now entering a world whose grim nature has yet to be fully grasped. This pivotal shift has been brought about by the disappearance of relatively accessible and inexpensive petroleum -- "easy oil," in the parlance of industry analysts; in other words, the kind of oil that powered a staggering expansion of global wealth over the past 65 years and the creation of endless car-oriented suburban communities. This oil is now nearly gone.
The great green energy hoax
Poll: Most think president can impact gas prices
Who's to blame for high gas prices?
The world still harbors large reserves of petroleum, but these are of the hard-to-reach, hard-to-refine, "tough oil" variety. From now on, every barrel we consume will be more costly to extract, more costly to refine -- and so more expensive at the gas pump.
Those who claim that the world remains "awash" in oil are technically correct: the planet still harbors vast reserves of petroleum. But propagandists for the oil industry usually fail to emphasize that not all oil reservoirs are alike: some are located close to the surface or near to shore, and are contained in soft, porous rock; others are located deep underground, far offshore, or trapped in unyielding rock formations. The former sites are relatively easy to exploit and yield a liquid fuel that can readily be refined into usable liquids; the latter can only be exploited through costly, environmentally hazardous techniques, and often result in a product which must be heavily processed before refining can even begin.
The simple truth of the matter is this: most of the world's easy reserves have already been depleted -- except for those in war-torn countries like Iraq. Virtually all of the oil that's left is contained in harder-to-reach, tougher reserves. These include deep-offshore oil, Arctic oil, and shale oil, along with Canadian "oil sands" -- which are not composed of oil at all, but of mud, sand, and tar-like bitumen. So-called unconventional reserves of these types can be exploited, but often at a staggering price, not just in dollars but also in damage to the environment.
In the oil business, this reality was first acknowledged by the chairman and CEO of Chevron, David O'Reilly, in a 2005 letter (PDF) published in many American newspapers. "One thing is clear," he wrote, "the era of easy oil is over." Not only were many existing oil fields in decline, he noted, but "new energy discoveries are mainly occurring in places where resources are difficult to extract, physically, economically, and even politically."
Further evidence for this shift was provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a 2010 review of world oil prospects. In preparation for its report, the agency examined historic yields at the world's largest producing fields -- the "easy oil" on which the world still relies for the overwhelming bulk of its energy. The results were astonishing: those fields were expected to lose three-quarters of their productive capacity over the next 25 years, eliminating 52 million barrels per day from the world's oil supplies, or about 75% of current world crude oil output. The implications were staggering: either find new oil to replace those 52 million barrels or the Age of Petroleum will soon draw to a close and the world economy would collapse.
Of course, as the IEA made clear back in 2010, there will be new oil, but only of the tough variety that will exact a price from us all -- and from the planet, too. To grasp the implications of our growing reliance on tough oil, it's worth taking a whirlwind tour of some of the more hair-raising and easily damaged spots on Earth. So fasten your seatbelts: first we're heading out to sea -- way, way out -- to survey the "promising" new world of twenty-first-century oil.
Deepwater Oil
Oil companies have been drilling in offshore areas for some time, especially in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caspian Sea. Until recently, however, such endeavors invariably took place in relatively shallow waters -- a few hundred feet, at most -- allowing oil companies to use conventional drills mounted on extended piers. Deepwater drilling, in depths exceeding 1,000 feet, is an entirely different matter. It requires specialized, sophisticated, and immensely costly drilling platforms that can run into the billions of dollars to produce.
Click here to continue reading
Michael T. Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College, a TomDispatch regular and author of the just published "The Race for What's Left: The Global Scramble for the World's Last Resources" (Metropolitan Books). To listen to Timothy MacBain's latest Tomcast audio interview in which Klare discusses his new book and what it means to rely on extreme energy, click here, or download it to your iPod here. This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
- no previous page
- next
1/3
Search "Enginion, EZEE03, Modern day steam engine"
Hundreds of billions of dollars will be required to develop the future oil resources. Do we want the world's treasure to be spent on this, or do we want to invest 10% that amount to develop synthetic fuels?
Maybe because the only thing that really seems to make anyone take notice now is how much things cost, if gasoline went up to it's "free-market" price of at least $10 per gallon, we would take notice and develop alternative energy sources.
Nice convoluted conclusion to my statement of fact, proving once again that all you have is personal attacks, and just like "greennnnnn-2009" stated, that you "just CANNOT face it that things aren't like they used to be."
I have no problem at all thinking outside the box, but it's obvious that rigid conservative ideology disposed of maintaining existing and prevailing views, has no vision for the future that the last trillion barrels of oil will be harder to recover and more expensive on both the consumer and the environment.
"Easy OIL" is disappearing rapidly, which will leave us deeper offshore wells with their own inherent risks, heavy/sour bitumen from the tar sands and kerogen from oil shale which are water and energy intensive for recovery.
You just need to understand Michael Klare's statement:
"The world still harbors large reserves of petroleum, but these are of the hard-to-reach, hard-to-refine, 'tough oil' variety. From now on, every barrel we consume will be more costly to extract, more costly to refine -- and so more expensive at the gas pump."
The days of cheap gasoline are over! Live with it!
fuel the planet sustainably using the ultimate energy source, the sun. The solar fuels developed will use existing infrastructure
requiring minimal change in industry and consumer behavior.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/preview-concept/4217016
Don't think many americans will buy it - range 125 miles, small car, glue construction.
But it misses the point, fine it runs on compressed air but where does the petrol station get the energy to run the compressors + add in the losses in the compressor system - you could end up expending more energy than you save.
Search "Enginion, EZEE03, Modern day steam engine"
THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF OIL SUPPLIES.!
It is not necessary for us to start drilling in hard to reach places or in places that will cause untold damage to an already damagaged environment.
I heard Obama say on TV the other day that he is going to insist that the UAW and the oil companies are dragging their feet when it comes to developing a gasoline that will provide more mileage per gallon.
INTRODUCING A CAR THAT RUNS ON AIR, and the only emission is AIR.!!
TATA motors in India, a nation that is supposedly far behind the US in technology; has developed a car that runs solely on compressed air.
The US has the capabi;ity to put men on the moon, establish space stations and send rocket to Mars and beyond; yet they claim they cannpt develop a gasoline that would save the American people BILLIONS of dollars each year.
The UAW and the oil companies have no shame.!
I vote we send a whole herd of them to India to see how these cars work.
PS: India will not be exporting these cars out of their own country.
Any time you convert energy, there are losses. You burn coal to create steam to turn turbines to turn alternators to create electricity to compress air to turn the compressed air into mechanical energy to turn the wheels through gears, very inefficient.
The US record average high was $4.22 in June 2008 under big deal oil guy Bush.
But I don't want to follow the Republicans back off the cliff to get gas prices back to where they were when Obama became President.
This is so true, and yet we have many denialists today, unable to comprehend the fact of the disappearance of relatively accessible and inexpensive petroleum -- "easy oil," in the parlance of industry analysts.
We have already burned the first trillion barrels of easy-access oil, and the last trillion barrels will be harder to recover and the price will steadily increase in the 21st century!
Nice convoluted conclusion to my statement of fact, proving once again that all you have is personal attacks, and just like "greennnnnn-2009" stated, that you "just CANNOT face it that things aren't like they used to be."
I have no problem at all thinking outside the box, but it's obvious that rigid conservative ideology disposed of maintaining existing and prevailing views, has no vision for the future that the last trillion barrels of oil will be harder to recover and more expensive on both the consumer and the environment.