Undiscovered oil 3

[rjoubert]

The Arctic accounts for about 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of the undiscovered natural gas, the USGS reported.

The above paragraph is from an article I read on Foxnews.com. I'm a bit confused...how can the USGS make such an assertion? How can they say that 13% of the world's undiscovered supply is in the Arctic, when it's UNDISCOVERED?

Should they have used another word instead of undiscovered? Perhaps untapped would've been better, if they have an idea of how much "undiscovered" oil is out there.

Of course, they could just be making that number up...as we all know, approximately 57% of all statistics are made up.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
I thought that it was 46% of stats that were made up ( except on Fox News, where it approaches 100% )






To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[rjoubert]

The article has a link to the full article on the USGS site, and that "13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil" statement is on there too, so it wasn't a case of the media making it up this time.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Undiscovered oil is an industry specific term which refers to estimated oil reservoirs that are believed to exist through geophysical, seismic, or other non-invasive investigative methods. The resource is undiscovered until you've actually drilled a well into the reservoir.

Untapped, on the other hand, deals with proven reserves from which no recovery has taken place primarily because it's either not economically viable or not technically feasible to recover the oil.


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[SQLSister]

Now now, you guys know you should never ever make up a statistic unless you give it at least 2 decimal places and it doesn't end in 0 or 5.

57.08% is much more beliveable than 57%

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[SantaMufasa]

no recovery has taken place primarily because it's either not economically viable or not technically feasible to recover the oil.

And let's not forget perhaps the most controversial impediment to recovery (especially in the U.S.): Legislated Moratoria.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[KornGeek]

Santa,
it could be argued that the penalty for violating the moratoria make the recovery "not economically viable".

 

[rjoubert]

Undiscovered oil is an industry specific term...

I see, so they just change the definition of an existing word to suit their needs, eh? Just like in the software development realm...we no longer have "bugs" in our software...they're called "features."

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> I see, so they just change the definition of an existing word to suit their needs, eh?
Actually, I think the term is pretty accurate because it refers to something whose existence is expected, or at least accepted by appropriate means, but specifically has not yet been found or proven. It's something that hasn't been discovered yet, but is expected to be found, or at least being sought after.

Is not Atlantis undiscovered?


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[SantaMufasa]

I see, so they just change the definition of an existing word to suit their needs, eh?

Yeah, kinda like saying that a "Federal Moratorium" makes something "not economically viable"...Kinda like Bill Clinton not running for a third term as President because the 22nd Amendment made such a choice "not economically viable" <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[rjoubert]

Actually, I think the term is pretty accurate because it refers to something whose existence is expected, or at least accepted by appropriate means, but specifically has not yet been found or proven.

If it has not been proven, then how can it be measured?

 

[KornGeek]

It isn't measured; it's estimated.

 

[jebenson]

This reminds me of the time my then boss asked me to make a list of any unanticipated problems we might have with an upcoming software rollout.

I goofed off for a couple of hours then gave him a blank sheet of paper.



I used to rock and roll every night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find 30 minutes a week in which to get funky. - Homer Simpson

Arrrr, mateys! Ye needs ta be preparin' yerselves fer Talk Like a Pirate Day!

 

[KornGeek]

jebenson,

I would have taken a completely different approach. I would have invented wild scenarios and listed as many as I could think of (ninjas, pirates, meteors, ninja pirates hurling meteors, etc.) and given him a 30-page list.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Cool idea, KG! Hava

.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[KornGeek]

On the subject of oil (it's probably going to be easy for one of you to pick apart this idea, but I don't mind), can't we find a synthetic (or alternative) substance that burns with properties close enough to gasoline that we could use it as a substitute?

I'm not talking about alternative fuels which require engine modifications (although these are a promising idea), but an in-place substitution. This way, we could begin using it immediately.

It may not be cost-effective at this point, but with the price of oil steadily climbing, it might be in the near future.

</ramblings of the uneducated>

 

[CajunCenturion]

Let's save that discussion for another time and place, and stick to the language in here.

I'm curious if rjoubert understands what is meant by undiscovered oil and untapped oil, and the difference between the two.


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Good Luck
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[SantaMufasa]

KG, Great (or possibly Small) Minds Think Alike. I was contemplating that exact notion on the drive to work today.

Perhaps we could:[ul][li]ferment corn or wheat into a fuel, or[/li][li]Extract hydrogen from water, or[/li][li]use recycled cooking oil, or[/li][li]outfit our engines to run on more plentiful natural gas, or[/li][li]extract combustible fuel from virtually unlimited coal resources, or[/li][/ul]Oh well ("oil well"), never mind, just the ramblings of a simpleton. <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[Golom]

... can't we find a synthetic (or alternative) substance that burns with properties close enough to gasoline that we could use it as a substitute?

Certainly. That's (in keeping with this thread) an undiscovered fuel source.

 

[KornGeek]

One analogy is imagine a boat that encounters a large, previously undiscovered land mass. The boat travels around the outside of the land mass creating a map. The entire center of the land mass is undiscovered land, but you can come up with a pretty good estimate of how much there is.