Helinski+What+If+the+Oil+Runs+Out?

Bren Simson 2006
 * What If the Oil Runs Out?**

Taking an extremely creative way or portraying the issue of the world’s dependency on crude oil, this film takes a look into a futuristic scenario that could be very possible in the sometime near future. It portrays an average couple who is living during the times where the oil reserves have become so low that the way many people live their lives has been drastically altered. It touches upon many concepts and ideas from simple things as raising gas prices to the altering social tensions that may arise as times become more stressed.

Touching upon many everyday activates that will change, the film also portrays several perspectives and how each of them become enrolled in this time of dire need. Beginning with the average homeowner, the way which tings are acted out are well done. Like most homes now days, the home in the film is heated by oil which is one of the opening scenes of the film. The home owners show his disgust as he is paying obscene amounts of money to ensure that his home is heated for the winter. With these raised oil prices not only does heating the home cost an outrageous amount of money but so does driving the family vehicle that most averages home have at least one of. Similar to the gas shortages of the 70’s, the film shows long gas lines, alternating days where cars can be filled, and talk about low prices through the radio and television.

A second perspective that is shown as a stake holder are those who are still in the race to discover new oil to alleviate the pressure from the oil shortage. The look into the geologist who is drilling in the wildlife refuge shows the tension and pressure that they are under to find the next big reserve. Most commonly not thought of in situations like this, it is an interesting perspective to see the geologist’s drive to continue to drill compared to the rig operators who are challenger her opinions. It shows how driven or possessive some geologist may become in order to continue the supply of oil instead of having our society shift to alternative methods of energy. The choices of the geologists and drilling companies to search for oil place the wildlife refuges as stakeholders becau

Through the look into these two perspectives it is clear that there are many issues that will arise from our dependency. As the population continues to grow, more fossil fuels are needed which has becoming an impossible task because there are no means of finding or producing as much oil as being consumed. A large portion of this is due to the personal vehicle market, which is shown by this film to not have decrease regardless of the situation about fueling them. People are so set in their luxuries that they are not willing to compromise in order to help the earth or their wallets. This is clearly seen as the main individual that the film follows along with many other people on the road are still driving around sport utility vehicles which have been proven to be gas guzzlers and nowhere near close to an efficient means of transportation. The increasing need for oil in the film shows the environmental extents which may be taken to try to meet the growing demand. As the ANWAR drilling is an issue in todays’ time, this film does and interesting job on displaying the environmental side as the geologist pushes on to drill for a new reserve.

With most of the large reserves depleted, the geologist in conversation mentions the new complications that may arise with having to hunt for the remaining oil within the earth. Not only will there just be less to drill for, but whatever oil remains will have much harder constraints to reach. It may be at unheard of depths or in more dangerous regions that are unable to be drilled. The rising complexity of drilling is just one of the issues that will arise with our dependency.

On top of the drilling complexity, the oil that will be available to the public will be at extremely higher costs with the limited supplies. This is most clearly shown through the increased gas prices in the film but essentially all aspects of life will become more costly with many of them relying on petroleum. The rising grocery prices in the film are the perfect example of this. Having the characters talk about the foods that have gone up bring realization to the fact that many foods are not native to the location which they are sold so the transportation costs for them will increase greatly which is covered by overall higher prices.

I found the most interest problem of all that is addressed by the film to be the increased social tensions that will accompany the oil shortage. Not commonly thought of as something that will occur, but when money becomes a topic at hand, many people will become much tenser with their style of living while trying to continue to live the way that they did before the shortage. Simple things such as rides to the grocery store are things that may be taken for granted now but as shown in the film, when gas prices are through the roof, people may become uneasy of neighbors who try to take more than their fair share when sharing rides. Tension is also shown through the gas lines that form as people become testy when it is there time to fill up. I feel as though this was an interesting characteristic of people to show because I am a believer that this will most definitely become a side effect of an oil shortage.

On top of the roll playing which I found to be a very compelling aspect of the film, the statistical information that was used only added to the persuasion factor. I was aware of the 98% of transportation being powered but fossil fuels, but did not realize that magnitude which the United States is responsible for. Having only five percent of the world’s population and consuming one quarter of the oil supply truly puts into perspective the importance of our country to realize the crisis which we are in. In addition I did not realize how risky drilling for oil actually was, only having a 25% success rate of hitting the intended pocket. If it is this difficult now, I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it will be to find the remaining wells once all the large ones are depleted. Although the acting was a great addition to the film, I feel as though some of it was a little over the top and not exactly completed convinced by it. With the way that drilling companies are operated now and with everything that I have discovered through the BP case, I feel as though they would be much more pro drilling than they were shown in the film. I also support the film in saying that tension and crimes rates are going to increase, but the scenario with the man being assaulted at the gas station I feel is a little farfetched at the rates which they were paying.

It is clear through this film that a shift away from oil is required or else the way which most people live their lives is going to come to an abrupt ending. The structure of the society is going to have to change to become much more horizontal if people are going to be sharing the last of a vanishing resource. Society is going to have to adapt to not having all of the luxurious that exist now, at least not all of the fossil fueled ones. The film shows massive amounts of trucks and SUVs, but this is going to need to change in order to conserve what resources we have left. It’s a simple concept that everyone could understand, but most choose not to.