ConocoPhillips chairman says world’s oil will outlast demand

The Associated Press

The world’s oil supply will outlast global demand, remaining relatively inexpensive and becoming cleaner to burn, the chairman of the nation’s third largest oil company predicted.

Archie Dunham, chairman of ConocoPhillips, said technological advances will replace fossil fuels — crude oil, gas and coal — long before the world depletes those primary energy sources.

“The world can rely on fossil fuels for the bulk of its energy needs for the next 100 years,” Dunham said April 28 at a Tulsa, Okla., luncheon, adding, “the oil age will end long before the world will run out of oil.”

Dunham spoke as domestic gasoline prices hit record highs with crude oil prices hovering well above $30 per barrel. Those prices helped earnings at ConocoPhillips rise 32 percent to $1.6 billion in the first quarter, the Houston-based company reported April 28.

The world is using more oil annually than oil producers are finding, despite improvements in exploration technology. Meanwhile, world demand is expected to grow by 60 percent in the next 30 years.

Sierra Club spokesman Eric Antebi said Dunham overestimated world oil supplies and that reliance on fossil fuels leads to environmental problems such as global warming.

“Demand is rising much faster than supply, and that means more oil imports and a greater dependence on an unstable resource,” Antebi said. “Things are only going to get worse.”

Dunham said improved gathering technology and more efficient cars — such as hybrids that use a combination of gasoline and electricity — will keep supplies flowing into the next century.