The United States consumption of petroleum has not change significantly in the last 15 years. The United States consumption of petroleum was at its peak in 1970 when we consumed 18.9 million barrels of petroleum each day but declined in 1983 to 15.2 million barrels of petroleum each day. Overall, the world s oil supply is predicted to last another 100 years. Other Resources Natural gas is a colorless and odorless resource. For many years natural gas was discarded as worthless, but it is one of the most valuable fuels we have.
Natural gas provides one-fifth of all the energy used in the United States.
It is especially important today in homes, where it supplies nearly half of all the energy used for cooking and heating. The United States has a lot of natural gas, enough to last for at least another 60 years and probably a lot longer. Canada has a lot of natural gas and through pipelines they help supply the United States with natural gas. The United States is looking for more ways to use gas, largely because it is easy to pipe from one location to another and because it burns very cleanly and therefore environmentally friendly. More and more, we are using gas in power plants to generate electricity.