whydon't we drillfor oil up north?
106757
Well enviromentalist pretty much keep anyone from doing that in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR) .. I've heard there is probably as much oil in ANWAR as there is in the Middle East .. so go figure.
182937
in Alaska if they had oil
1156512
In 20 years there will be only 3 places that you can get oil from; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Alaska, U.S.A (not yet dugged up).  Within a next 50 those will be used up aswell.
640569
Same reason.\n\nThe US wants control (influence) of the entire oil-producing region, so that they can ensure a regular supply.\n\nIt's not about individual countries.
958215
I was mad when the liberals wanted to block drilling for oil in Alaska during the beginning of George W. Bush's presidency, and now look at our dilemna!  I am very environmentally conscious and bike and walk when I can but I believe extremes will get us nowhere.  We have to look after our pocketbooks AND the environment.  There is a middle ground.  Show me a preservationist who doesn't drive and I will listen to him!
567650
We certainly can and do just that. But it's more expensive to prepare it from scratch than it is drilling for hydrocarbons and refining them.\n\nThe answer isn't always 'what can be done', but rather 'what can be done most economically'.
861237
Holy crap - you may just be the stupidest person on earth. The American military is an all-volunteer force, you moron. Why is that so hard for you to understand?\n\nAnd again - if it truly was about the oil, ANWR would be opened. You should go to a construction site and see if they can use some heavy equipment to pull your head out of your butt.
123709
That question can’t be answered until you tell us what we mean by ‘supply’. Oil supplies are measured in 3 basic ways.\n\nThe first type of supply is the liquid crude reserve supply. This is the amount of liquid oil that we absolutely, definitely know we can make a prophet out of at today’s prices and using today’s technology.  We have drilled well into reserve supplies, we know they are there, we know how much and we know the quality. Proven reserves are in the 1017-981 billion barrel range. (See link 1 below)\n\nThe second type is the  liquid crude  resource supply. This is the amount of liquid oil that we know exists in the ground that we can reasonably expect to be able to get to if we need it. We haven’t fully explored resource supplies. There might have been a few test holes drilled and various seismic tests but at the moment it’s not worth doing more detailed investigation because it isn’t profitable enough. Current estimates of world liquid oil resources range from 2, 248 to 3, 896 billion barrels. (See link 2 below).\n\nThen come the non-liquid oil resources. These are massive. They include tar sands and oil shales amongst other things. Although Canada has been profitably extracting sand oil for decades it is less profitable than drilling for liquid crude oil, so nobody has fully explored the extent of sand and shale oil. We know it’s huge, far larger than the amount of liquid crude ever discovered. But just how large is uncertain. Best estimates say that worldwide tar sands amount to 6,200 billion barrels with 890 billion\nbarrels being “recoverable”, while oil shale  in the US alone amounts to some 160,000 billion barrels (see link 3 below).\n\n______________\n>>>> guess-timates put our production peak around 25 years.\n\nNo, they don't. They put our liquid crude peak at around then, but the question asked about all oil, not just liquid crude. The leak for all oil won't come for another 100 years or so.
403304
Canada has a lot of oil. According to all the liberals, that is the only reason Bush invaded Iraq, so it makes sense that Canada would be next. Plus it's closer to home.
542488
Oil is so politicized these days that I'm sure that you will never be told or be readily allowed access to the real story but please keep trying.\n\nBy the way if you think about it, I mean really think about it, oil is too cheap.
1077912
There is plenty of oil for years to come.\n\nBut is your question about Canada predicated on the bizarre theory that we invaded Iraq for oil? That is so laughable that you need severe ridicule and degradation for being so gullible or delusional. I'm too tired right now.
529185
Ok, maybe I would be a better person to ask this question since I actually work in the industry finding the stuff. Seems to me some people have made up they're own minds without much knowledge of the industry.\n\nAs one guy has pointed out, yes as it takes millions of years to from and the amount we have used thus far is greater than that being made naturally. \n\nHowever, what people fail to realise is that its the larger discoveries which for the past decade has been in decine due to the price of oil. As such, oil companies were reluctant to spend money in exploration because of the decreased profit they would make. Since Bush decided to invade Iraq, the oil price shot up and now exploration is booming. More discoveries are being made, and production is up.\n\nAlso as you have mentioned there are places which have yet to be discovered. I recently was working for a company which did an exploration well which they had been planning for 20 years! Long time planning if you ask me, but the reason it took so long was because the techonolgy avaliable was not around at the time to explore it. We can only explore within the capabilities of current techonolgy. Not only that there are vast areas of the world that have yet to even be siesmically survey'ed, for example the Pacific Ocean, big huge expanse of water, how long do you think it would take to map the sub surface geology?\n\nAs for your third part of your question, there is such a thing as extended reach drilling, where (as the name suggests) they drill long sections and could quite easily tap potential reservoirs without damaging sensitive environments. Such drilling goes on in the UK.\n\nAll in all no the oil is not running out, these next few years are going to see and peak in the production of oil since hte industry started.\n\nP.S. Removing the oil from the ground doesnt in any way shape or form cause volcanoes as the guy above me suggested, that is mearly ill' education!
1171490
So far, there's not enough demand to warrent the extra cost of developing alternative energy sources.  In order to stop using oil (for power) we will need to find cheaper ways of getting alternative energy or become much more motivated to do so.
760786
Geopolitically the industrialized world is totally dependant on oil from the Middle East.  There is no industrialized nation that does not have in their national interest the seeking of a guarantee that there must be an uninterrupted flow of oil into their nation.  They all hover around the Middle East like moths to a light, ever manipulating, bribing, arming, trading, selling technology, whatever it takes, to buddy up with the Sheiks.  Use simple "rule out" and you find there are many countries with worse dictators and political systems around the world that we have not, or would ever consider invading to "set those people free."  It is  only because there is oil in Iraq that we even know where they are on the map!  It is hard, but it is true.
331997
You mean like going to war in the middle east or drilling for oil in Alaska?
1056073
It is a real concern, but whenever someone makes a prediction about when a country of the world will reach peak oil output, they do so with what then is considered a researve.  As the cost of a barrel of oil increases, sources for oil that were once not considered a researve then become on because at that cost it is economically viable to recover it.  With the recent spike in oil prices, North America can now clasify the tar sands in Canada and the oil shales in Colorado oil researves, and that being the case, it is estimated that in the US alone, we now have more economically recoverable oil then Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest exporter.  As the price continues to increase, other marginal sources will become economically viable.  Sooner or later, we will reach a point where there simply isn't enough oil available for any price, but that is still a ways off yet.  I believe that before we reach that point, oil will be more expensive then alternate fuel sources.  Through simple economics, I believe that people will begin using these alternate fuels simply because they are less expensive.  I believe that the high cost of oil will spawn invention and inovation into the energy sector, and I believe that has already begun.  We are working on increasing production of biodiesels and ethenol, and there is increased research into fuel cells and electric autos.  I think the future lies in hydrogen burning technology personally.  We already have engines that burn Hydrogen, but we're still working on the fuel tank dilema.  So, for a long answer, I believe that there is and will be time. I'm looking foward to being put out of buisiness.
361778
The oil sands in Alberta have lots. They just have a hard time getting it out of the sand. Enough to last until the second coming I'd say.