In recent times, the amount of resources spent on searching for oil has all but decreased. Many energy companies still invest billions in order to find new natural stores of oil, which is their main revenue generator. However, scientists claim that the world’s oil resources are going to run out in just some decades, following the extreme exploitation by oil firms. Moreover, a consistent share of the global energy consumption is associated to polluting fossil fuels like oil; thus, the industry is massively contributing to climate change. Considering that oil will not be the primary source of energy of the future, it would be convenient to allocate more financial resources to renewable sources of power such as wind and solar.
Although energy groups have strongly benefitted from the oil business due to its profitability, the reckless extraction has been detrimental for oil reserves around the planet. As a matter of fact, petroleum needs millions of years to generate below the soil; nevertheless, the consumption of oil is much faster than its regeneration process. As a result, our oil supply will be extremely scarce in 50 years from now. Therefore, viable alternatives are needed in order to cope with our increasing energy consumption, which should be satisfied by the same firms that are currently investing in oil.
It is evident that companies would be better off by investing in renewable energies, which will likely be our main source of energy in the next future. Even though oil guarantees short-term profits, the long-term financial sustainability of multiple companies relies on clean power generation, fostered by solar, wind or hydro energy. Furthermore, renewables are not associated with C02 emissions; hence, the global ecosystem would benefit from them.
In conclusion, additional investments dedicated to the search for oil lack of the basic financial sustainability, since petroleum will play a residual role in our future economy. Energy giants should allocate more resources to the development of clean energy facilities, exploiting sun or wind power. Consequently, they would spurr long-term profitability, as traditional fossil fuels are running out. In addition, they would tackle the climatic crisis by reducing C02 emissions.