To estimate an answer to Tristan's question, I looked up the world's proven oil reserves from the EIA. The highest estimate was about 1,300 billion barrels, or 200 cubic kilometers: one ten-millionth the volume of the water shown here. The diameter (width) of the sphere is around 4 kilometers across, or several hundred times smaller than the water "droplet". At the scale of this picture, it would probably be around one pixel on your screen.
There is plenty of dispute over these figures (and my math is very rough), but I think that the general scale is still appropriate. There aren't many fluids as abundant on our planet as air and water... and there isn't much of those!
Add new comment
To post a comment, you need to register for a BuildingGreen Basic membership (free) or login to your existing profile.