Bangkok--17 Mar--Francom Asia
Airtimes: Sat, March 18 at 1900
Sun, March 19 at 0500, 1200 and 2000
Mon, March 20 at 0000
It is September, 2009, a category 5 hurricane roars through Houston, Texas, destroying oil refineries, drilling platforms and pipelines -- the complex system that provides one quarter of the US’s daily fuel supply. Waiting for just this moment, terrorists attack two key oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest supplier.
In the days and weeks and months that follow, gasoline more than doubles in price, food prices soar as trucks can not afford to make deliveries, and Americans begin to realize that their very way of life is in peril.
‘WE WERE WARNED’, which airs the weekend of March 18, is reported by CNN’s Frank Sesno. The documentary weaves this frightening scenario through an hour that explains how the US got into this mess and how they might get out of it. The scenario is hypothetical -- but entirely plausible and one that security experts tell CNN, they worry about. Energy experts, within and outside the oil industry, agree that the days of easy-to-extract oil are gone. What crude is left on the planet is at best difficult and expensive to obtain. The point is imminent at which the world, led by the US and China, will consume more oil than can be pumped.
Sesno also takes viewers to a deep water oil exploration ship in the Gulf of Mexico; to the frigid tar sands of northwest Canada and its huge oil reservoir; to Brazil’s farm country, where ethanol -- the fuel that supplies more than 40% of the cars in that country -- is made from sugar cane; and to China, with its 1.3 billion people and beast of an economy. China is now the world’s second largest consumer of oil behind the US but its aspirations are as big as its population.
While U.S. President Bush now talks about the country’s “oil addiction”, critics say his initiative is late, under funded and fails to mandate significant improvements in fuel economy standards. While scientists and engineers scramble to make viable alternative fuels, time is running out. If the worst happens -- natural disaster, terrorist acts and another war -- it may be too late.
CNN PRESENTS is CNN International’s award-winning documentary series, showcasing compelling work of significant impact from esteemed filmmakers. For more CNN International programming information, please visit our website at www.cnnasiapacific.com .
For more information please contact:
Nuttaporn Tangwongsan
CNN Press Information Center
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