If everyone in the US traded in their gas cars for hybrids or electric, would OPEC go out of business?

Answer 1

No. Plastic and other materials are made from oil.

By the way, the US is NOT energy independent. The US still imports large amounts of oil to make up for what it exports. The result is higher prices to the public.

Answer 2

Not at all because crude oil fractions are also used for other applications other than car gasoline or diesel and the vehicle battery will be mostly recharged by the power supplied from combustion of naptha, diesel, furnace oil, etc.
Planes, trucks, bunkers and ships will still be using appropriate fractions of crude oil such as jet fuel and heavy fuel oil or diesel. LPG cylinders and kerosene stoves are still used in developing nations for cooking food. Butane is used as fuel for BBQ.
Ethane and Propane are used to make ethylene and propylene. Pentane and Hexane are used as solvents. Higher alkanes from crude oil are used as lubricating oils, wax, tar, asphalt, coke and for making dienes, aromatics and cycloalkanes. Gasoline accounts for 46% of the product made from a barrel of crude oil in USA.

Answer 3

Most likely not, you still need fuel oil to heat your homes in cold c limits, and diesel fuel to run the extra generators needed to produce the now need extra electric to charge every thing electric. You will trade one need for another need, end results no real change!

Answer 4

Everyone will go out of business if we go down the path of this green insanity.

Answer 5

No hybrids, they're no better than any gas car . yes I'll get Prius drivers saying they get 70mpg, that's because youd drive so slow so you can bore everyone saying how green your car is.

Answer 6

NO. OPEC would stay in business just any other business that experienced a drastic change in the demand of their product. The Organization of the Petroleum Export Countries have already made changes since electric vehicles and hybrids have been on the road. Most successful businesses have plans in place called projections for changes in demand and OPEC is no different. There will still be a need for fuel for other purposes besides cars. Also, there is no way all gasoline and diesel engine cars could all be exchanged at the same time. There would be a gradual shift, as in any market, changes are gradual. There is still a need to produce energy though. OPEC produces oil for energy production. They will put their money, for which they have a lot, into energy producing plants to produce clean energy in the form of electricity. How do we get electricity? We obtain electricity by burning fuel and then storing that electricity to keep power plants running so we can charge our electric cars. We will always need additional forms of energy production all over the world. OPEC will stay in business for a very long time. Don't believe the alarmist environmentalists who can only see the short sighted perspective. Look at all issues from different perspectives and consider the facts, not the emotional responses from people who have little use for facts because the facts don't forward their short sighted views.

Answer 7

Not hardly. There is still a large world out there, fuel for planes and large trucks, and other things. Not to mention how long would it take to build all those vehicles, decades at least.

Answer 8

Don't believe these Big Oil shills. If even half of the drivers in the US switched, OPEC would definitely go out of business!

Answer 9

Not at all. First of all, we’re not the only country that OPEC sells to.

Secondly, you still have the need for oil for power generating, oil for heating, oil for certain chemicals, oil for plastics, oil for lubricants...the list goes on

Answer 10

Why should we do that? The US is now energy independent. We're selling oil and gas to OTHER countries now.