oil discovery
bp recently announced the discovery of a giant oil field in the gulf of mexico. some 3 billion barrels. that sure sounds like a lot. but is it? okay first don't get me wrong. it's great that we're still finding oil. we will always want as much oil as we can get. because it is such useful stuff. the question is better phrased as, what impact does this have on the global oil picture including our dependence on foreign oil? heh. the meaning of that is kinda funny. cause bp is a foreign company. anywho, the answer is: none whatsoever. generally oil fields like this shrink after the excitement of discovery. it's not that folks are lying. it's just they don't know. it might hold 3 billion barrels. but it might hold 300 million. which just isn't newsworthy. okay so suppose things go as hoped. this field could increase world production by 1% to 2%. which is nothing to sneeze at. however, demand grows by 3% per year. so we'd need two such discoveries per year just to keep up with demand. not likely since this is the "biggest" find since 1976. also production from the previously discovered fields will be in decline by 1%-3% by the time this new field starts producing. so yeah, reliance on oil is in a world of kicking screaming change.