Despite the huge number of alternative sources of energy that have been gaining popularity recently, no one refuses the "black gold". Over the past decades, humanity has made significant progress, including the energy industry. Today, there are many ways to ensure stable energy supply. But even the most recent scientific projections will not be able to surpass the popularity of a proven means over the years—oil. Specialists of the world's largest oil company ExxonMobil conducted research and found out that over the next 30 years the demand for this type of commodity would grow by 35 percent. In other words, the demand will increase by 1 percent a year by 2040. Such optimistic forecasts were a result of a significant increase in consumption of the resource by the countries that are not members of the OECD, where the demand indicators have not changed much for several years. In a report, ExxonMobil's experts gave oil the first place as the most popular fuel, and also suggested that in the near future, natural gas would displace coal as the second most usable resource. Alternative sources of energy such as solar energy, wind energy, and bio-fuels are also forecast to grow, but the scale of the use does not allow competing with the classical resources. The common demand for oil and gas would rise by 53 percent between 2010 and 2040. By the end of this period, 35 percent of the oil and gas reserves would be extracted from the bowels of the earth. Particular attention should be paid to the 'shale gas boom', as the oil company's experts believe that the non-traditional types of gas would provide about 65 percent of growth and one-third of world production in 2040.
