"Most giant oil fields, those containing more than [500 million] barrels of oil, were discovered between 1950 and 1970. Fields discovered in the past 30 years or so have tended to be small, geologically complex, or in remote or difficult environments such as in the Arctic or below deep water. Hence, improving the recovery factor in existing fields is crucial."
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All the big oil reservoirs have been found. Once they start to decline, we will have to discover thousands of new, smaller oil wells annually to compensate for the decreased supply. I've read that only a few hundred smaller oil fields have been found in the last 10 years. In fact the rate of discovery of new oilfields has been decreasing since the 1960s, as described rather alarmingly in this website... and the parent Yahoo group.

I disagree with the website "Running on empty" in one respect: hoarding supplies is a last resort. What good are tons of food and secret underground fuel storage tanks, if someone kills you and steals it all? We are much better off if we act as a nation for our mutual survival. This requires the knowledge of when & how world oil supplies will be exhausted, and the consequences, to be disseminated to all the people, of all economic means. People aren't stupid. There are millions of people who live in Canada, USA, and Mexico who are capable of planning their futures, but they need accurate information.

But the nation is unaware: current leadership is torn between the benefits of free-market economics and the little voice in the back of their minds that says some regulation is needed. This problem requires leadership. Leaders must decide which one is better. And leaders must rally the people, motivate them to make the right choice. Millions of people acting for their mutual survival is a great thing to behold!

On a lighter note, my current favorite solution to the oil-for-transportation dilemma is this little silver bullet rocket-mobile, sometimes called the "Indycycle", or "Pulsecar", or whatever. It gets 55 mpg, accelerates & handles like a motorcycle (got guts?), and is good for all-weather driving, i.e. wind, rain, snow & clear blue skies. And there are many different versions of this vehicle, some with two wheels in front, one in back; some that lean into corners like a motorbike. With safety enhancements it could easily be accepted by a great many people as a commuter car (roll bars, headlights, crush zone, side-impact beams, airbag, and at the same time establish a fuel economy standard. And I wonder how fuel-efficient it would be with a fuel cell, or a compressed natural gas tank instead of gasoline? It may even be conducive to home-hydrogen refuelling. Who knows, but it would be a whole new class of automobile.