Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the UniverseChapter 25:
Earth ResourcesProblem of the WeekCrude Oil Supplies – How long with they last?
Solving the problem: Add the oil reserves on the map **Note: The map is presented in British units, so the number of barrels is given in units of "thousand millions." This is equivalent to the U. S. billion. The figures on the map can be translated so that 64.4 thousand million = 64.4 billion.
United States: 64.4 billion barrels
South America: 95.2 billion barrels
Europe: 19.1 billion barrels
Africa: 74.8 billion barrels
Former Soviet Union: 65.3 billion barrels
Asia Pacific: 44.0 billion barrels
Middle East: 683.6 billion barrels
Total: 1046.4 billion barrels
Divide this amount by the yearly amount used worldwide.
1,046,400,000,000 (proven oil reserves) / 23,443,000,000 (yearly use worldwide) = 44.6 years Discussion Topics:
Oil, as a nonrenewable resource, is one of the most heavily used of the fossil fuels. Much of the world’s oil supply is located in Middle Eastern countries. Because the United States consumes a great amount of this oil, we are dependent on the supplies from these countries. This can be a good starting point for discussions on the current political situation or the efforts to develop alternative energy sources. References:
- Proved Oil Reserves. 2000.
- Glencoe Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the Universe. p.658.
Figure 25-4
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