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Thursday, 25 May 2006, 11:57 GMT 12:57 UK

Oil: Facts behind the fiction

Here are just some of the facts surrounding the issue of the world's dependence on oil.

IF... THE OIL RUNS OUT

BBC Two
Tuesday, 30 May, 2006
2320 BST

Programme summary

Every day the world currently burns more than 80m barrels of oil. By 2016 it is estimated that will rise to around 100m barrels per day.

All the world's biggest known oil reserves are in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iran.

Each American burns 25 barrels of oil a year, each Briton burns 11, each Chinese burns 2.

Fewer and fewer major new oil fields are discovered each year:
16 in 2000
9 in 2001
1 in 2005

If the price of oil continued to rise, the prices of natural gas and electricity would also go up. The rise in energy costs would cause business to slow down, possibly triggering a recession.

The price of petrol in the UK has more than doubled in the past 20 years.

In the UK, we now pay around 98p for a litre of petrol. Of this:
30p reflects the crude oil and refining costs
61p goes in tax
3p goes to the petrol station
4p is the oil company's profit.

Uses of oil include: DVDs, perfume, food preservatives, detergents, plastics, deodorants, medicines, explosives, carpets, contact lenses, paint, washing-up liquid.

These facts are sourced from interviews with experts across the oil exploration and petro-chemical industries.

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RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
In Depth: Fuelling The Future
International Energy Agency
Oil Depletion Analysis Centre
Energy Institute
World Energy Council
Will You Join Us
Centre For Global Energy Study
OPEC
Energy Information Administration
Association For The Study Of Peak Oil & Gas
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