Only 50 Years of Oil Left?
The world may have no more than half a century of oil left at current rates of consumption, the British bank H.S.B.C. warns in a new report, as developing countries’ demand surges to new levels.
The world’s second largest bank in terms of assets, the British-owned H.S.B.C. says that oil supplies are guaranteed for the next fifty years, but after that the picture is less detailed. “‘We’re confident that there are around 50 years of oil left,’ Karen Ward, the bank’s senior global economist, said in an interview on C.N.B.C. The bank further cautioned that growth trends in developing countries like China could put as many as one billion more cars on the road by midcentury. ‘That’s tremendous pressure on oil to power all those resources,’ Ms. Ward said.”
