Oil reserves
 

"Most of the world's oil reserves are in the hands of state-run companies, many of which are run badly." Graph from Economist magazine 8-10-2006

These reserves represent about 100 years of world supply based on the best projections. So how to think about this? One interpretation is that this is a picture of where great oil wealth will be concentrated in coming years. And, even without the worrisome socio-political implications, the geography itself spotlights why the United States must - must! - dramatically focus all possible effort on ending carbon energy dependence. The Economist Magazine National oil companies Oil's dark secret Aug 10th 2006 | CARACAS AND LONDON "...these national champions control as much as 90% of the world's oil and gas, they can do far more than the likes of Exxon to assuage the current worries about supply and to influence the accompanying record prices. But like most state-owned firms, they are prone to over-staffing, underinvestment, political interference and corruption." "The NOCs will gradually become even more dominant as oil production dwindles in areas which are open to all comers, such as the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. New oil is most likely to be found in the NOCs' territory, precisely because it is largely out of bounds to multinationals such as Exxon and BP, and so has not yet been thoroughly raked over. In the future, therefore, oil production will be even more concentrated in the hands of the national firms of Russia and the Persian Gulf."