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Energy Issues

Facts About Oil & Natural Gas

There are some misconceptions about energy production, availablity and utility. Here are some facts that help put our use of oil and natural gas in perspective:
97
Percent of U.S. transportation that is oil-based, including cars as well as the trucks, trains, planes and ships that haul passengers and supplies.
80 
Percent of the world's oil and natural gas reserves exclusively controlled by foreign governments
1.6 
Percent of the world's oil and natural gas reserves controlled by U.S. energy companies (the total amount of reserves managed by all investor-owned companies is just six percent).
88 million
Barrels of oil a day that the world uses
55
Percent increase in global energy demand between now and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency
22 
Percent increase in the amount of oil the U.S. will consume in 2030 compared to 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Energy
12.3
Percent of gasoline used in the United States that would be saved if every acre of corn was used for ethanol
1 trillion
Barrels of oil that energy companies have produced in the history of the world to date
6-7 trillion 
Barrels of conventional oil and non-conventional resources – like extra-heavy oil, oil sands, and oil shale – that are already known to be available worldwide
60 million 
Cars can be powered along with 25 million homes can be heated with crude oil resources from the U.S. for 60 years
50 
Number of years those homes could be heated with those oil and natural gas resources
$1.3 trillion 
Amount America's oil and natural gas companies invested in long-term energy initiatives between 1992 and 2006
$98 billion 
Amount America's oil and natural gas companies invested in energy technologies, including renewable and alternative forms of energy, over the past five years in North America
61
Percent of oil the U.S. will have to import by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, up from 60 percent in 2006 and 36 percent in 1980
6 
Percent of energy use currently supplied by renewable sources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which expects the figure to increase by two percent by 2030