The Hill News

Crude oil is obtained by drilling into petroleum reservoirs far below the earth’s surface.  Despite the common parlance, we do not “produce” oil; we extract it from deep within the earth where it has been created by intense heat and pressure over hundreds of millions of years.

Now, after just 150 years of oil extraction, we have burned through roughly half of it. The world is consuming four barrels of oil for every one we find, more than 80 million barrels of oil every day. The United States alone consumes more than 20 million barrels a day. Most major oil exporting nations are well past their supply peaks, with giant fields rapidly diminishing in size and new finds proving to be small and relatively insignificant.  Worldwide oil supplies have plateaued and now face a decline from which there is no return.  This peak, plateau and decline is referred to as “Peak Oil.” 

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