Do we have enough oil in the coast to last the US 16 years? I just saw a TV commercial about it! I think that%26#039;s not true!

Additional Details

1 week ago

Are you sure even with the population and demand!

Best Answer

All the numbers you hear are estimates. Even most reports of %26quot;Proven Reserves%26quot; are estimates. The moratorium on offshore drilling means that there has not been exploration for oil in the area. We would only find out how much oil is there if companies began to explore and drill for oil, which means that if we started today, we%26#039;d have a decent idea of how much oil is there in about 5 years.

Most of the estimate-based information that is out there is tempered by the specific interests of the person or group reporting the information. If they support off-shore drilling, then you%26#039;ll hear about a century%26#039;s worth of oil sitting right off of our coats; if they oppose drilling, you%26#039;ll hear that there is a year%26#039;s worth (basically, you%26#039;ll hear information on the two extremes.) In reality, we don%26#039;t know, and even once exploration begins we would only have an estimate. The only way to know how much oil there is in an area is after-the-fact. If we start drilling in these areas, then in 100 years (after we remove all the oil) we may know how much oil there used to be in these deposits.

Asker's Rating:

I believe we would only have about 3-5 years of oil to use!

Other Answers (6)

• From general conversation with local oil people it is felt that the pool off shore from Long Beach in California is at least as big as the one that is under Iraq and Arabia and maybe bigger. They already know the one that lies off shore from Florida between the Bahamas and Cuba is that big or bigger. Those two alone could sustain our current oil usage for more than a hundred years if we do not let Venezuela and China steal it all while we sit back and watch them drain it like they are currently doing.
• The short answer is, that no one knows for sure. Estimates are that about 20 billion barrels are currently off limits to exploration, but they aren%26#039;t sure because no one has explored. The US uses 7.3 billion barrels/year, so 20 billion would last about 2.5 years.
  
  
  I%26#039;ve heard other places that total unproduced recoverable reserves might be as much as 115 billion barrels. That is likely where the %26quot;16 years%26quot; number comes from. It includes an estimate for production from the Bakken formation that many in the industry feel in unrealistic.
  
  DK
  www.eia.doe.gov has a lot of information on this. Also www.theoildrum.com
• Whatever hasn%26#039;t been around long enough to witness the various doomsdays come and go. If the abiotic theory of petroleum formation, or sometimes called the Deep Hot Biosphere Theory, then there is certainly more than that. There are also Methane hydrate deposits that dwarf the petroleum. These resources should be utilized. Can you imagine what this country would be like if our finding fathers and Pioneers didn%26#039;t utilize our resources. We would probalby resemble Zimbabwe. I wonder why the left seems to want to take us backwards, while they insist it is forward.
• Of course this isn%26#039;t true. It%26#039;s more like a 75 year supply of oil under the coasts.
  
  We have plenty of oil to keep us going for future generations, we just don%26#039;t have the political will to get it.
• I agree with Jello. The Warmers have put out some bad information in order to push alternative energy agendas. We have plenty of oil and gas in our country with known reserves carrying us well beyond 100 years.

• Answer hidden due to its low rating

  We might,if the world lasts for sixteen more years.I%26#039;ve been doing research very recently and all of my studies are representing to me that the world should be coming to the end on December 21,2012.And since in 16 years,the year will be 2024,I%26#039;m afraid we%26#039;ve already been witnessed to our proper places.My research presented to me that the Ancient Incan tribe of South America set their guesstimate of the end of the world in 2012,as did later tribes of North America,and later a woman-I can%26#039;t remember her name-had in the mid-1700%26#039;s predicted the world to come to its end in 2012 as well!So therefore,if the world does come to an end, having enough oil in the coast will not matter unless a new human race appeared.You think that was an amazing discovery,I%26#039;m 11 years old!!! I am seriously not joking anout my age!