Since the dawn of the industry, we have usually taken the easiest quickest oil first. As time passed, the easy pickings run out and we have to try ever harder to get every barrel. Technology is improving all the time, helping us get to those ever more challenging reservoirs.

Improved Technology

The industry is better at extracting more from each reservoir. Companies have been able to go back to closed fields with new technology and techniques and make them viable again. They can keep the oil flowing longer. For some time it has been possible to have a single well extract from multiple underground zones, making otherwise unviable smaller pockets of oil combine in to a larger single, profitable well.

Undiscovered Reservoirs

We still have many places in the world to explore where easy access to oil exists. This is often true where previously there have been unstable governments or local conflicts making the prospect of working in the area unattractive.

Oil Will End

However, there will eventually come a time when oil becomes too expensive to extract and therefore not a viable commodity for use as a fuel. There will still be a market for oil centuries from now, but not for burning to power transport or generate electricity. Generations to come may scoff at us for being so wasteful as to burn the stuff.

About The Author
Amanda Duarte
Chewells Contributor

Amanda is our fact checker. Not much gets past her festidious research. Her additions to the... »

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