**2. Volumetric methods and statistical methods: The first oil survey**

The completion of the first oil survey unleashed generalized fears of imminent depletion in the United States (U.S.). Much in line with what had previously happened with coal surveys in Britain, key advances in the knowledge on fossil fuel stocks spread alarm about the finiteness of non-renewable resources. As early as 1909, Americans realized that oil wells might rapidly dry up and all the more so when the boom in automobiles could only worsen the situation.
