Ghawar is/was the world's largest oil field and produces 4.5 million barrels per day. Cumulative production from Ghawar was 55 billion barrels. In 1975 Exxon, Mobil, Chevron and Texaco estimated that the ultimate recovery from the field would be 60 billion barrels. These numbers indicate there are 5 billion barrels of oil remaining in the Ghawar oil field.

America's strategic petroleum reserve currently holds 693.5 million barrels of oil, refer to:
http://www2.spr.doe.gov/DIR/SilverStream/Pages/pgDailyInventoryReportViewDOE_new.html

The stategic petroleum reserve is almost at full capacity which is excellent news. The strategic petroleum reserve is our main line of defense against economic blackmail from Arab oil producers.

According to the Oil and Gas Journal, the United States had 21.9 billion barrels of proved oil reserves as of January 1, 2005. The United States consumed an average of about 20.4 million barrels/day of oil during the first ten months of 2004, up from 20.0 million barrels/day in 2003, refer to:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/usa.html#oil

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Fun with math:

The original untapped capacity of the Ghawar oil field alone was 2.7 times all of the remaining crude oil in the United State.

The United States alone is burning crude oil 4.5 times faster than the rate at which crude oil is being pumped out of the ground at Ghawar.

At current crude oil consumption rates, the United States would have completely drained the original/untapped Ghawar oil field in 8 years.

At current crude oil consumption rates, the United States could exhaust all of its domestic oil supplies AND the strategic petroleum reserve in 3 years.

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We are inescapably dependent upon foreign crude oil imports to keep our economy alive. Much of this oil comes from Islamic countries ruled by unstable medieval political systems. China is on the verge of becoming a major new consumer of the world's crude oil.

I find it amazing that we have put ourselves into this idiotic situation. We (modern civilization) are like that urban legend of the1967 Chevy Impala with the JATO rocket strapped on it, cruising along at Mach 1 directly towards a vertical mountain wall. There is going to be nothing left of us but a greasy spot.

Why aren't people terrified by this?

Gary