If The Earth Isn Running Out of Oil, Why Does Gas Cost so Much?
Oil is a finite resource so it will run out eventually. Gas will take a lot longer (hundreds of years) but demand is outstripping supply, especially as people use more of it for heating now. OPEC control prices by controlling supply: it’s a balancing act for producing countries designed to maximise income but keep prices below the threshold that would make alternatives such as electric cars viable. Gas is supplied from a lot of non OPEC sources but has high capital costs to build handling facilities. This and their own supply/demand games will keep prices on the high side. Most gas reserves are owned by oil companies so they know how to play the game. Wars over oil are about future reserves: nobody wants to be the first to run out of oil. Some would argue that World War II was won by the Allies cutting off oil to the Japanese and Germans. Once their reserves were depleted they were finished as they had lost control of their oil producing territory.
