The prolific formation of oil has occurred only a few times in the Earth's long geological history. For example, almost all the oil from the Gulf Coast of the U.S. to Peru, including the vast degraded deposits of Venezuela, which hold even more than the Middle East, was the result of a brief period of excessive global warming 90,000,000 years ago. Algae flourished in those ancient warm, dead, stagnant, and anoxic seas. Another such epoch, 140,000,000 years ago, was responsible for the oil in the North Sea and much of the Middle East. (2)

However, many people know little about the controversial issue of oil and oil depletion besides what they have been told by

un-informed experts. It has become so controversial because of the difficulty in predicting the current oil supply. Most people are too optimistic in their estimates of the supply because of the dire implications of a shortage. Simply put, energy is the key that unlocks all other resources. As of today, oil accounts for 40 percent of all energy use in the world. This accounts for 26 billion barrels a

Today, people can not overlook the future of the U.S. and the world as out supply of oil dwindles to nothing. Gains in efficiency will not solve this problem. Fisker describes Jevon's Paradox, in which "gains in efficiency [...] is typically eaten up by increases use of the efficient device" (4). Furthermore, increases in population and oil usage are already putting a strain on a non-renewable resource that is the backbone of our industry. What will happen after the oil supply is gone? Well, it is clear that this will probably be answered in this century.

When the oil supply does run out, what will the repercussions be in our society? Well, this question will be dependent on whether or not the world has developed and adapted to a new, abundant energy supply. If not, industrialized countries such as the U.S. will lose over a hundred years of technological progress. There will be a shortage of electricity for homes and industry. There will also be no fuel for transport of goods, so global trade will almost stop completely. This will make it impossible for most of the industry to produce goods at a profit. Agriculture will also be hit hard. Today, Agriculture depends heavily on fertilizers and pesticides made from oil to feed the increasing population. Without oil, our food production may not be able to handle the population. To make things even worse, many of the people that don't lose their jobs will be unable to travel to their jobsites. After a few years, most people in the U.S. will move from the cities to rural areas. This will weaken the central government and probably lead to a more localized government. Without a strong government and large-scale industry, people will have to rely more on the land and their ingenuity for their survival. Famines will surely result, and society will resemble only a fraction of what it was. As the years go by, new values and beliefs may arise from this new way of life. However, man will eventually find new energy sources and proceed again toward an industrialized world.

This supply has been determined by the reports of new oil discoveries. Campbell comments on these reports, "This shows that discovery peaked in the 1960s, so tha

Some common words found in the essay are:
Running Empty, United States', Middle East, According Campbell, Jacob Fisker, Information Administration, Jevon's Paradox, Colin Campbell, Depletion Denial, Cheap Oil, oil supply, percent world's, oil depletion, colin campbell, 40 percent, source efficient abundant, energy source, source efficient, 60 percent, percent population, 80 percent,
Approximate Word count = 1486
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)