When statistics are presented in certain specific ways, by organisations who wish to portray a certain result, they can be misleading. Many people fear that soon the oil, on which we rely, will run out; but the companies that provide us with that oil, and other organisations, have been reassuring everyone that that day is a long way off still. In a recent report, BP have said that there is still 42 years of oil consumption left, which is supposed to ease fears based on the idea that we will have technologies less dependent on oil by then. But it is obviously in BP’s etc. best interests to reassure everyone like this, and many people claim the data is misrepresented.

One example of evidence to the contrary is the fact that the amount of crude oil left to be exploited fell last year, for the first time in ten years. It was taken to be 1.248trn barrels, which is around 3bn less than the year before. However, it is thought that this might just be a result of a slump in drilling activity due to the fact that oil fell in price last year, falling from $150 a barrel to just $30.

Regardless of this neat explanation, however, people claim that the optimistic position overlooks an important piece of evidence. Claiming that there are 42 years of continuous consumption left assumes that demand will rise uniformly, or not at all. However, many think that economic growth, along with rising populations, mean that demand for oil is likely to rise drastically in the short term.

Factoring this consideration in leads to a much less optimistic prediction, and suggests that we may face widespread shortage of oil much sooner. A whistleblower at the International Energy Agency has recently revealed that they have been deliberately playing down the seriousness of the situation so as not to encourage panic buying. Obviously panic buying lots of oil will make the problem far worse.

Whether we run out in 42 years, or tomorrow, the way ahead seems clear. It is in our best interests to try to change technology, and behaviour, so as to decrease our reliance on this substance as quickly as possible. Solar energy, wind energy, and many others are currently improving drastically, and should be pursued and invested in.

Find out how oilfield microbiology could help increase the efficiency of oil recovery operations.