The cost of oil, part 2

As a follow up to my earlier post about the Cost of Oil, comes this article from the Huffington Post.  More facts, more examples, more of the same to many of you, but for those of you who aren’t quite convinced, check it out for yourself and see if it makes sense to you.  There’s a lot of talk in the media about the cost of oil, and discussions about different options for getting more of it (Keystone XL pipeline, drilling in the gulf, etc).  It’s worth realizing that these solutions will provide oil, but not CHEAP oil.  Or as the article above so nicely put it,

The simple truth of the matter is this: most of the world’s easy reserves have already been depleted — except for those in war-torn countries like Iraq.  Virtually all of the oil that’s left is contained in harder-to-reach, tougher reserves. These include deep-offshore oil, Arctic oil, and shale oil, along with Canadian “oil sands” — which are not composed of oil at all, but of mud, sand, and tar-like bitumen. So-called unconventional reserves of these types can be exploited, but often at a staggering price, not just in dollars but also in damage to the environment.

So what’s the answer?  Adapt.  Oil will continue to get more expensive and more rare.  We need to work hard to wean ourselves off of that addiction, for the longer we wait, the more difficult that transition will be.

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