Final answer:
Unconventional oil and gas, such as those accessed by fracking, have shorter development times but are expected to deplete quickly after rapid exploitation. Conventional oil is on a trajectory to deplete by 2050, and the temporary boost in unconventional oil supplies doesn't change the long-term outlook of resource scarcity and rising petrochemical prices.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to expectations, unconventional oil and gas, which includes resources extracted through methods like hydraulic fracturing (fracking), differ in their development timeline compared to conventional oil and gas. Conventional wells may take up to a decade to develop and can have a long production life, albeit at diminishing rates. In contrast, fracking operations are characteristically fast-paced, with the potential to exhaust a fracking play within just a few years. This rapid exploitation indicates that the fracking boom may end as abruptly as it began, once the easily accessible plays are depleted, leaving behind less productive fields.
The discovery of conventional oil peaked over 50 years ago and we are on a steady path toward depletion by 2050. Meanwhile, unconventional techniques like fracking have temporarily increased the available supply and impacted oil production trends, as seen in the dramatic uptick in U.S. oil production in the last decade. However, with petrochemical prices expected to rise due to diminishing supplies and increasing environmental concerns, the future sustainability of fracking remains uncertain.
Despite the temporary addition of unconventional oil and gas to the petroleum supply, Hubbert's predictions suggest that we are still heading towards a supply crunch. This implies that, over time, conventional resources will continue to deplete and unconventional resources, despite their current boom, are not a long-term replacement due to their rapid depletion rates and associated environmental impacts. The viability of maintaining energy supplies through unconventional sources may diminish, thereby reinforcing the need for alternatives to fossil fuels.