Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1970s, Western corporations controlled 85 percent of the world's oil
production. These companies now produce only 6 percent. 7 Today 78
percent of petroleum reserves are held by state-owned companies that
are increasingly assertive about protecting their natural resources.
Large parts of Siberia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, West Africa, the nations
that were part of the former Soviet Union, and the soon-to-be-accessible
Arctic Ocean likely contain signifi cant amounts of petroleum. The U.S.
Geological Survey has estimated that the several petroleum basins in the
Arctic may contain 90 billion barrels of oil, one-third of it in Alaska.
Added to this possible bounty are new technologies developed by the
petroleum industry that are revitalizing existing fi elds formerly regarded
as economically depleted. Between 1970, when America's oil production
began to decline, and 2007, world oil production increased by 70 percent;
it jumped 9 percent between 2000 and 2007. Global proven oil reserves
have increased almost every year since 1980; they increased 10 percent
from 1990 to 2000 and another 12 percent between 2000 and 2007. 8
Refi ning capacity increased by 10 percent between 1990 and 2000 and
by another 7 percent between 2000 and 2007. There is reason for opti-
mism about the amount of oil still present and accessible beneath the
earth's surface.
However, world oil consumption increases almost every year, and it
jumped 12 percent between 2000 and 2007, mostly as a result of increas-
ing development in the Third World, particularly China. China now
accounts for about 40 percent of the world's recent increase in demand
for oil and uses twice as much now as it did in 1998. Its oil consumption
increased by 15 percent from 1998 to 2007 and is expected to increase
by 3 percent annually over the next two decades. China plans to add
120 million vehicles to its automobile fl eet by 2015, ultimately requiring
11.7 million barrels per day of new oil supplies. 9 Auto sales in China are
booming, with the strongest growth in the sale of gas-guzzling large
luxury cars and SUVs, where sales are expected to surge. The situation
is much like that in the United States before the current surge in gas
prices. As one Chinese entrepreneur said, “In China, size matters. People
want to have a car that shows off their status in society. No one wants
to buy small.” 10 He owns a Hummer, an urban assault vehicle for which
demand in China has been so strong that since 2008, Chinese consumers
can buy a similar military-style vehicle called the Predator at more than
twenty-fi ve new dealerships. In 2009, the Hummer brand was sold by
General Motors (now largely owned by the U.S. government) to a
Chinese company.
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