We are running out of oil. This is an undeniable fact. The only
remaining question is not if but when. However, pumping the
global oil barrel dry is not the immediate problem. The more
imminent danger is what happens when demand outstrips supply:
dramatic price increases for oil, followed by exponential price
increases. Recent record-high gasoline prices of well over $3.60
per gallon in the United States are only a hint of what is
coming in the near future. Since 2000, oil prices have
quadrupled, and we can expect more of the same in the years
ahead. The main problem is that, even now, annual demand for oil
is four times greater than the volume of new oil reserves
discovered (which peaked back in the late 1960s and early
1970s). Moreover, many of the highly publicized “huge” new
recent oil finds will add only a few days’ supply to the global
oil market, which currently consumes 86 million barrels a day.
By 2025, that demand is expected to climb to around 121 million
barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy