Minyak bumi adalah sumber daya yang bukan tak terbatas. Konsumsi minyak bumi di Indonesia cukuplah besar mencapai ratusan juta kilo liter tiap tahunnya. Diluar persoalan apakah harga BBM di Indonesia mahal atau tidak, akan tetapi dunia menunjukkan tingkat kelangkaan BBM dimana dibuktikan adanya kenaikan harga pasar. Untuk sumber daya yang bukan tak terbatas, seharusnya dilakukan mekanisme efisiensi. Pengertian economic efficiency adalah sebagai berikut.

The attainment of out comes consistens with the application of what economists call the pareto criterion. The pareto criterion asserts that economic activity is efficient when it is not posible to find an alternative way of undertaking the activity to improve the well-being of one individual withut harming the well-being at least one other individual.

Disini terlihat jelas, bahwa efisiensi lebih dilihat bukan pada permasalahan apakah harga lebih tinggi atau rendah dari pasar akan tetapi bagaimana kriteria pareto tercapai. Hal ini sesuai dengan first fundamental of economic welfare dimana kesejahteraan tercapai jika terjadi efisiensi dimana hukum pareto tercapai. Hukum pareto tercapai tidak selalu ditentukan oleh harga yang sama dan kuantitas yang sama, mekanisme transfer juga bisa dilakukan seperti yang dikatakan di second fundamental of economic welfare sbb ini.

While every equilibrium is efficient, it is clearly not true that every efficient allocation of resources will be an equilibrium. However, the Second Theorem states that every efficient allocation can be supported by some set of prices. In other words all that is required to reach a particular outcome is a redistribution of initial endowments of the agents after which the market can be left alone to do its work. This suggests that the issues of efficiency and equity can be separated and need not involve a trade off.

Dalam efisiensi sendiri, terdapat tiga dimensi yaitu sbb.

a. Productive Efficiency. occurs when the economy is operating at its production possibility frontier (PPF). This takes place when production of one good is achieved at the lowest cost possible, given the production of the other good(s). Equivalently, it is when the highest possible output of one good is produced, given the production level of the other good(s). In long-run equilibrium for perfectly competitive markets, this is where average cost is at the lowest point on the Average Cost curve.
b. Allocation Efficiency. is the market condition whereby resources are allocated in a way that maximizes the net benefit attained through their use. Allocative efficiency refers to a situation in which the limited resources of a country are allocated in accordance with the wishes of consumers. An allocatively efficient economy produces an “optimal mix” of commodities. A firm is allocatively efficient when its price is equal to its marginal costs (that is, P = MC) in a perfect market.
c. Dynamic Efficiency. Resource are deployed in a way that encourages the most desirable level of research and deployment and innovation.

Bagaimanakah seharusnya penanganan untuk resource yang terbatas. Well dengan melihat dasar hukum ekonomi diatas, maka pemerintah seharusnya bisa menangani permasalahan BBM,  dsb nya yang dikategorikan sebagai sumber daya bukan tak terbatas.