After all, only 6 to 7 per cent of global oil production is currently used for the chemical industry. Nevertheless, the volume of proven reserves that are considered exploitable continues to increase. Estimated at billion barrels in , they are estimated today at 1, billion barrels. There are various reasons for this. For example, as exploration methods continue to improve, more reservoirs will be discovered. In addition, production costs are reduced thanks to innovative technologies. As a result, reservoirs can be developed that would previously have been uneconomical, including smaller and unconventional reservoirs.
Another reason is increasingly efficient exploitation. For example, Wintershall Dea uses special techniques like steam flooding to improve the oil recovery rate from reservoirs. With all these improvements, reserve life is not expected to decline for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, an end to economical oil production is still a long way off. Wintershall Dea has huge goals in Egypt. Crude oil will be needed as an energy source for a long time to come. Crude oil is the foundation of everyday life.
American Geosciences Institute. What is renewable natural gas? What is coalbed methane? What is produced water? What types and amounts of energy are produced in each state?
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And what if oil ran out tomorrow? I have no other choice! It underpins the global economy. Billions of tonnes are used every year in manufacturing and transport and our demand for the black gold just keeps rising. If we withdraw the fertilizers, production will go down. Plus all the water and irrigation used in India depend heavily on external sources of energy. But this dependence on oil is relatively recent. The history of petroleum stretches back just over a hundred years.
Coal was the fossil fuel that drove the industrial revolution - first in Britain and then around the world. Steam power followed. But by the end of the 19th century, oil was king; a position the coming of automobile mass-production would secure. Across , oil prices have gone up rapidly since January - sparked by uncertainty in the oil market.
But oil consumption is set to keep rising, as China's demand for oil increases. And India has now overtaken the UK in the size of its oil imports. As a result the people who are not rich will stop getting oil. The biggest consumer of oil is the United States — it uses million gallons of petroleum products a day. The US is one of the largest producers of oil, but that domestic oil accounts for less than half its needs.
For the rest, the US relies on imports. And so reliant is America on oil from the Middle East that in President Jimmy Carter declared that, "Any attempt by an outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
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