Reply #9: There's even less "there" here.

[hunter]

This oil is beyond the receding horizon, further than fusion, I think.

If I had to bet on a longshot I'd go with something like polywell fusion (wikipedia) rather than unconventional oil like this.

As it stands now, tar sands, coal, and unconventional oil like this is going to take a beating as much less expensive oil and natural gas resources become scarce. Resources like this are so difficult to extract they cannot be counted on to support the sort of industrial society we are accustomed to. Any stability in oil prices we acheive from this point on will be accomplished by reductions in the demand for oil, either by rational means or by involuntary and painful contractions of the overall world economy.