The Brazilian "Tupi" and "Jupiter" fields, combined, are by far the biggest discovery of oil in the last 30 years. Bigger that Khazakstan.
They are thought to hold appx 16BN barrels of recoverable oil and gas. I don't know how much oil vs how much gas, suppose it is all oil.
Brazil consumes appx 0.77BN barrels/yr of oil. So, fine, that is two decades of oil "independence" for Brazil.
But Brazil isn't the US. The US consumes appx 10X more - 8BN barrels of oil each year.
So these huge fields - combined, the biggest new discovery in 3 decades - amount to 2 years' oil consumption for the US.
By the way, global proven oil reserves are about 1.3TR barrels. So the Tupi/Jupiter fields have increased global reserves by about 1%. Not a lot.
And the world currently consumes roughly 32BN barrels/yr. As I said earlier, divide 1.3TR by 32BN and you get 40 years. And the Tupi/Jupiter fields have maybe added 6 months to that. Hmm.
Think about it. The biggest discoveries in the last 30 years, and they only amount to 6 months of world oil consumption.
Unless you think Tupi/Jupiter-size discoveries are going to start popping up like dandelions, it is silly to think that more oil exploration is the long-term answer.
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Originally Posted by Mule
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