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Originally Posted by retx
thats not entirely true. with the known fields, we could only produce enough petroleum for a few years....20 at the most, if we continue the average 5% increase in demand per year. most of those fields are in the gulf. deep water is the most expensive to explore and test-well, not to mention the actual platforms and pumping them once they prove to be decent. several of the famed Jack2 wells were non-productive. oil too thick to pump from such depths, and several others from the same field were dry. this is Chevron's big answer to offshore drilling and the US reserves. at some point the amount of energy it takes to explore, drill, pump, transport and refine this deep water oil, will excede the amount of energy it contains.
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Between the Gulf and ANWR there is an estimated 10 to 40 years worth of oil, depending on whose numbers you read. That's not an insignificant amount of oil or time when you factor in the continued research and technological improvements into alternative energy sources. Obviously we can't afford to continue on with reckless abandon as far as our oil consumption goes. OTOH we could make the transition to alt energy a lot easier, and when it's a viable choice.
It's a moot point though, because it will never happen. China and Cuba will be drilling around us, though. And I don't think they're quite as concerned about the environmental effects as the U.S. would be.