At what point does it stop being cost effective to keep drilling for oil?

I mean energy cost effective, not money cost effective.





How long do you think we have until we have to put more energy into extracting oil from the ground than we get out of it. And what happens then?At what point does it stop being cost effective to keep drilling for oil?
When you finally except the fact that it is not an endless resource and start looking for other options that are less apt to cause complete chaos when they even look like they are going to begin to run out.At what point does it stop being cost effective to keep drilling for oil?
Great - except the fact is not a fact. Oh well, buy'm books and send'm to school - it's up to them to learn. Some just don't. Report Abuse

As of today, approximately $45 per barrel on the market. In Venezuela the break point is approximately $75 a barrel because their leader for life decided to throw out the petroleum engineers. Check out the large finds off the cost of Mexico. There should be a corresponding deposit off the coast of Africa based on the geology the region. It is generally accepted that S. America and Africa were one land mass several thousand years ago.
I don't believe anyone has directly answered your question.


And the answer is 'it won't happen.' The drilling end of things is planned on a minimum return for the dollar spent. When I left,that number was about 25%. That, of course, was at the wellhead and did not include any transportation, pipelining, refining, R%26amp;D or corporate overhead. Typical oil company profits are 6-9% at years end in a good year. If they can't make money doing it, it won't be done. Oil does not receive the 50% or more guvmint subsidization like wind, solar, ethanol and bio-diesel. When those sources can financially compete head to head on a level playing field then oil and gas drilling and production will begin it's last days.
We need to be drilling in more places for oil right now. But the dems won't allow it.





And Obama is putting cap and trade into effect which he said himself will drive electricity prices sky high and put the coal industry out of business.





The dems have also been blocking building more nuclear power plants for years...





The dems won't lets us use oil shale either....
The US should definitely look into domestic sources. However, there is a limit. Too much drilling can damage the surrounding environments, including farmland. Plus the last thing anyone wants is to view the country as a giant oilfield.
The other day I heard from an oil engineer with the current price of oil that some projects like extracting oil from oil sands are no longer cost-effective. Oil companies shut down those projects and work on other projects or try to trim expenses.
When the demand is too low, it stops being effective to keep drilling for it. Until then, it is attractive.
When these oil companies cannot make billions in profits.





http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/f鈥?/a>





3 out of the top 4?


What a ripoff!
Then we go to synthetic lubricants, alternative engines and nuclear power.





Oops? Did I say nuclear? That'll piss off the left more than oil use, won't it?
As long as it's being subsidized and alternatives are not being invested into, it'll remain very lucrative for a long time.
When the oil Co. cannot keep making obscene profits.
We are not anywhere near that point.