Background: In the figure comes at the end, we can see that the oil takes up a large percent in the global energy consumption. The supply and demand of the oil has a tremendous influence on the energy industry.
I read this week’s Saturday essay “There will be oil” in the Wall Street Journal, which is taken from Daniel Yergin’s new book, "The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World." “Daniel Yergin is chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an energy research and consulting firm.” (Wall Street Journal, 2011)
This article talks about the rising in the global supply and gas during last 20 years due to the fast development of the technology, which is completely opposite of the general idea of the “peak oil”. Mr. Yergin believes that there won’t be a crisis in energy supplies. He explains that there have been five “peak oil” in history, every time it turned out to be false. At the same time, people’s fear of the running out of oil makes the demand of oil keeping rising, as well as the price of oil going up quickly. Nowadays, “in the oil and gas industry, technologies are constantly being developed to find new resources and to produce more—and more efficiently—from existing fields.” (Wall Street Journal, 2011) Mr. Yergin sets the “digital oil field” as one example, if the technology can be used widely, there will be 125 billion more barrels of oil in the world, which is as much as the current amount of oil in Iraq. “Thanks to increased production and greater energy efficiency (plus the use of ethanol)”, the so-called “peak oil” still does not happen.
From my perspective, Mr. Yergin’s opinion will no doubt make people in the energy industry feel more comfortable. People will have more confidence in developing new technologies instead of worrying about the running out of oil all the time. Meanwhile, the large demand of oil may keep rising; everything needs oil, for example, electrics, cars, etc. Furthermore, the price of oil would keep going up, due to the growing demand of oil and the fees of new technology as well.
The following link is an interview carried by the WSJ journalist David Wessel and Daniel Yergin talking about his new book and some new ideas about the supply of the oil in the book. http://online.wsj.com/video/yergin-on-energy-20/75F18B14-7BD4-45F5-A3E1-1CF6B4E28B1A.html
References
S.M. Enzler (2011) [Figure] Characteristics, origin, applications and effects of fossil fuels. Retrieved September 18, 2011 from http://www.lenntech.com/greenhouse-effect/fossil-fuels.htm
Yergin, D. (September 17, 2011) There will be oil. Retrieved September 18, 2011 from the Wall Street Journal. Website: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904060604576572552998674340.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_10_1
Figure. Source: Energy Information Administration
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This is a great contrast to what many people fear today regarding oil consumption! Good job starting off with a brief description of the article that you found, then leading into a summary of what was covered from Daniel Yergen's new book. Finally your analysis of the resource that you used was concise but thoughtful. I felt the same thing when you mentioned that this article would help people in the energy industry feel more comfortable.
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