Reply #2: It is inevitable.

[A HERETIC I AM]

The economically recoverable reserves are pretty well known and the major key to the equation is China and the rest of the developing world. China has been experiencing a boom in it's middle class in recent years and the number of Chinese with money to spend on cars, appliances and heated/cooled homes could potentially number better than 600 million. 600 Million car driving, appliance using consumers use a SHITLOAD of oil. That number of people closely equals the populations of all of Industrialized Europe and North America combined.