[GratefulCitizen]

Petroleum economics can get complicated.


First, what constitutes "reserves" needs to be carefully defined.

There are many sources of hydrocarbons on the planet.
The sources where product can be extracted and sold for a profit are the ones everyone is concerned about.

Here's part of where it gets complicated: when the price of oil goes up, more of the sources are now profitable, which means there is now more "oil" available.
It isn't quite like a gas tank which has a specific, finite capacity.


Second, the consequences of the changing price of oil might not be entirely intuitive.

When the price of oil increases, the US spends more to get it.
China and India also spend more.
If the US economy is competing with those of India and China, who has a relative advantage when paying for more expensive oil?

There are cries about the US "dependence" on foreign oil.
It is a two-way street.
Those foreign sources of oil are also "dependent" on US dollars. Would we rather have them dependent on the Chinese yuan and the Indian rupee?


Global economics are complicated.
Many of the views pushed in the American media are narrow and oversimplified.