Approximately how much oil is produced in “Other North America” compared to Saudi Arabia and “Other Middle East”? If you were the president of ExxonMobil, where would you suggest drilling for oil, given the information in this graph?

Why is the bar for “Other Middle East” short and wide while the bar for “Canada oil sands” is tall and narrow? Why is it cheaper to extract oil in Saudi Arabia than in Canada?

Calculate the cost per day to produce oil in Saudi Arabia and compare it to the cost of oil from the Canadian oil sands. (Hint: Estimate the height of each bar to get the cost to produce a barrel; then estimate the width of each bar to get the total number of barrels in a given region. Divide the cost by the total number of barrels to get the cost to produce oil in that region.)

The graph lists only the economic costs associated with oil production. What specifically are the other costs (including environmental, social, and economic)? How do we decide when the costs outweigh the benefits of oil extraction and production?

In your opinion, when do the environmental costs (externalities) outweigh the benefits (status quo) of a fossil fuel economy?

How did we come to rely so heavily on fossil fuels, and what are the consequences of our dependence? Do you think we will be able to switch to an alternative fuel source before we run out of fossil fuels?