This ones for the intellectuals: What is going to happen when we empty the holes all the oil is in?

Interesting question. I can see where this could be a concern, though the others have assured us that it is not. Sinkholes occur in Florida when the water table is low and the aquifers are not full -- there is a void in the Earth that caves in. It seems that the same thing could happen when we pump oil wells dry.

Oil pockets are not the same as swimming pools where there is a hugh concentration . It is more like a vanilla wafer with the sweet being interspersed within the dough. When the oil is extracted it will be replaced with water intentionally being forced down to push up the oil . There will not be sliding of a huge chunk of the continent to fill up holes. Why don't you read about oil extraction either on the internet or in the library so you will understand rather than drawing wrong conclusions. Incidentally, it doesn't require either an intellectual or a rocket scientist to find the answer.

There is now roughly 10 trillion cubic feet of proven oil reserves around the world. One small mountain peak not even 6,000 feet high has about the same volume. Thus, if all the oil was drained from the Earth, it's nothing compared to what's already happening with volcanoes and earthquakes that displace far greater masses. The volcanic explosion of Mt Saint Helens is a good example, which wiped out the entire side of the mountain.

Trivia: This "small mountain" of 10 trillion cubic feet of oil is about 1,200,000,000,000 barrels of crude, which, at current high prices of $100 a barrel, comes to about 120 trillion dollars. This is enough to buy the all the property and stock in the entire United States, or almost half a million for each man, woman, and child in the USA.

This actually isn't a problem because of Global Warming. As we burn fossil fuels, the earth warms up, therefor melting glaciers. If we weren't leaving huge holes in the ground from oil, this would be a problem and the seas would rise. However, the water fills the holes and everything works out.

Many, many oil wells have already run out. Oil lies in between permeable rock. When the oil runs out the holes won't collapse. Consider what happens if you take a tub of sand and put water in the sand. Now plunge a straw into the sand and suck the water out. The sand still remains.

Oil is not in otherwise empty holes it is found in absorbent rock trapped between two impermeable rocks therefore the oil isn't the only thing in the "hole" secondly to extract the oil water is pumped in to maintain pressure therefore replacing the oil.