More than one billion people depend on oil for transportation and various products and services, and oil provides nearly one- third of the world’s energy supply. Many researchers contend that crude oil production will peak early in the twenty-first century and will subsequently decline, leading to inevitable oil shortages. Others disagree and assert that ample supplies make oil an abundant resource.

Regardless of whether oil production peaks in the early twenty-first century, many experts argue that there are enough oil reserves available to satisfy global demand for many decades. For example, the American Petroleum Institute (API) notes that an estimated 1.4 trillion to 2.1 trillion barrels of oil worldwide are available for production. At the current rate of consumption, the API maintains, this is enough oil to last between sixty-three and ninety-five years. Moreover, according to the API, “If economically feasible...