> But regardless of policies around extraction and burning, Saudi Arabia will never literally run out of petroleum. It will just get progressively more expensiv

> But regardless of policies around extraction and burning, Saudi Arabia will never literally run out of petroleum. It will just get progressively more expensive. Not even that: higher prices work as incentive to develop alternatives. True for oil as energy source (renewables), fuel (synthetic fuels, H2 etc) and chemical feedstock (eg. bio-based polymers). Alternatives will then develop to the point that oil simply isn't attractive any more. Or that a price at which it would be (to buyers), is below the cost of extraction. Perhaps leaving some niche applications, but demand will drop overall. In short: it's a matter of time before production of (fossil) oil becomes unprofitable outside those niche applications. Heck, if environmental damage were included in the cost, it already is (ehm.. has been for a long time). So there will be a "peak oil profits". Probably around the same time as peak oil - which may already have passed.