I hate some of the recent "docu-drama" things being chucked out by the Beeb and ITV, if only that there's not enough of an emphasis on the fact it's not all fact. However, last night's BBC2 If... The Oil Runs Out in the If series of docu-dramas put into clear context just how the world has become so reliant on oil to fuel it's economy and way of life. The suggested date is 2016, and the drama infolds, with various experts and statistics flashing on the screen, backing up the story. True, it's fiction dressed with fact, but unlike other programmes it had a very strong tinge of truth.
One thing I did like, to really put the whole oil situation in context was the facts about oil exploration discoveries and consumption. 16 new fields were discovered in 2000, 9 in 2001, and only 1 last year. Each American burns 25 barrels of oil a year, each Briton burns 11, each Chinese burns 2, so when the Chinese economy takes off with a vengence.... The world uses/burns 80 million barrels of oil a day, so in the minute it's taken you to read all this, another 55,500 barrels of oil has gone...
