Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Macroeconomics - Essay Example The organization of petroleum exporting countries decides by them the cost per barrel of petroleum. The present price of petroleum in the world market has skyrocketed in the last few years because the OPEC members have agreed to limit the output per country. Since the agreed output has been reduced, the prices of petroleum per barrel have skyrocketed for the past few years. A study of the non – OPEC member nations, government and other academic researchers have shown that the non OPEC member nations may have equal sales with the OPEC member states in 2010. The worst case scenario is predicted by some scientists showing the world’s population will squander the limited petroleum oil supply. When the petroleum will dry up, then the world’s population will have a feeling that we are approaching the end of the world. Exxon has warned OPEC countries that the oil supply will not last forever. In some countries, solar energy research have been successful replacements for petroleum. Oil production can be subdividied between the OPEC member countries and the non OPEC. Countries have started looking for non-petroleum product replacements. An example is the electric power batteries. The solar powered homes and calculators are big successes. The introduction of the substitutes will help lower the the increasing barrel cost of petroleum (fossil) fuel. In fact, â€Å"Many large-scale projects, such as shale processing and synfuels (e.g., coal to liquids), were begun in the early 1980s, but these were abandoned when the price of oil fell drastically in 1986. However, research has continued at a steady pace since that time. Even producing oil from tar sands is now a alternative major industry in Canada. Plants to produce liquids from natural gas are operational, and much larger plants are under construction. Ethanol production from sugar cane and corn is now done on an industrial scale. Thus,