If the volume of oil resources were known with certainty, and if we could accurately predict the growth of oil consumption, calculating the imminence of exhaustion would be simple. But these are big “ifs” – especially given the high level of uncertainty regarding the ultimate volume of oil resources.
如果石油资源的数量是确切可知，又如果可以精确预测石油消费增长趋势的话，计算石油枯竭的日期就变得非常简单。但这不过是些空乏的“如果”——尤其在考虑到关于石油资源终极储量的如此高的不确定性之时。