Oil is a resource that is very much in demand in just about any country in the world today. This is indeed a very, very established fact. Have you noticed just how fast oil prices are rising anywhere in the world today? Yes, oil prices are certainly skyrocketing nowadays, and this is a clear-cut indication of one thing: oil reserves are indeed depleting fast.

Now, this may not seem quite as alarming as the current global warming problem we are experiencing. But this is still something that should receive ample attention from everyone, from the worldly political leaders to the ordinary citizen in any society.

Let us face it: we do need oil for a whole lot of reasons. In fact, I cannot go to the office without using up oil. Sure, I can choose to walk, which can be the healthier option here. But I do not really have all the time in the world to walk to the office every single day. The problem is the significant decline in oil production is quite imminent. In fact, you can even say that this decline in oil production is just around the corner! Add to the fact that this is in the global sense! The world, by far, is just not ready to face the consequences of this sad but true fact looming in the distance.

Let us look at today’s premier oil sources. Cantarell, which is just about the largest oil source that you can find in the western hemisphere, has its oil reserves depleting fast. This has serious implications on the economy of Mexico and the US as well. With a decline of 400,000 barrels a day by the end of 2006, the time has indeed come to acknowledge the fact that there is a need to come up with liquid fuel substitutes. Because of this fast depletion, Mexico has even warned some importers from the US that it just might not be able to carry on some of its contracts because its oil production is dropping at an all-time high! And Mexico has to take care of the oil consumption of its people primarily. This is far from good news for the US!

Without imports, the domestic oil reserves of America would diminish in a heartbeat. In fact, at the current rate of consumption of Americans today, it would take just about three years for the domestic oil reserves to run out! And if the present administration cannot come up with effective ways to deal with this problem, then we are definitely in for rough times ahead!

But even if each and everyone of else would voluntarily cut back personal consumption of oil, these efforts would still be in vain when you look at the big picture. The rate of depletion is just too fast. Any effort would still be at a loss. The same goes true for technological breakthroughs of sort. No matter how fast these breakthroughs might come about, there is just no way of thwarting back oil depletion. If such a breakthrough would have this capability, then it should be so extraordinarily effective.

Another problem here is that the world leaders are not really exerting that much will and effort into coming up with an appropriate solution for this looming problem. The same goes for America as well. With the way the Bush administration is going, this lack of political will can lead to another catastrophe as huge and destructive as Hurricane Katrina was on New Orleans! Mother Nature waits for no one, you know. And I personally think Mother Nature has given us one too many chances to try to solve this problem.

If everyone, and I am speaking globally here, would just exert personal and conscious effort on conserving oil, then we just might be able to work something out. Hopefully, it would not be too late by then.