Discovering Not Much

A graph I came across today:



The bar graph maps the discovery of crude oil reserves since the 1930s. The black line maps oil production/consumption. Now, the fact of declining oil discovery and rising production doesn't in itself mean the world is running out of oil. A lot has already been discovered. But it does make for a potentially interesting shakeout between the parties with a natural or sovereign right to natural resources--countries--and the parties seeking access to them--oil companies. Of course, this is already well underway, with the kind of energy industry nationalizations that have taken place in Russia and Venezuela. But for the United States, this trend is now moving a lot closer to home.