Benefits and Drawbacks of Countries Dependent on Oil and Gas Essay

Two-thirds of the world’s remaining oil reserves are in the Middle East which will make international policy imperative in the future (Campbell 2007). It is

Michael Ross in his book The Oil Curse, analyzes in great detail the effects of oil on a country’s economic, political, and social environment. Ross argues that “resource curse” is not the appropriate terminology; “it is more accurately a mineral curse”, as countries are generally not affected by other types of resources. (Ross, p.1) In fact, oil and natural gas tend to be the most common villains of the resource curse. Humphreys, Sachs, and Stiglitz hypothesize that “countries with

For the past several decades we have been relying on oil as our major source of energy. It is oil that driven the industrial revolution and turn the global economy into what it is right now. However, the increasing rate of our reliance and hunger for oil has been causing us devastating problems so awful that we can’t afford to ignore it anymore. It is a fact that the global oil reserve won’t run dry in either today or tomorrow but we are running out of supply. I believe that oil should not be the only major source of energy because of the following reasons, first, the

We are currently impacted by global processes, of unprecedented magnitude. On the positive side, our world is characterized (and increasingly) by a rapid increase in trade, both of capital, goods and services, including information, ideas, technologies and cultural patterns. On the negative side, we experience processes enormous concentration of wealth and social marginalization, and a rapid enlargement of the gap between developed and underdeveloped countries in the world, while appear on the horizon an ecological crisis of global reach.

In terms of oil dependence, most of the general public believes that the world has enough oil to support us for the next hundred years; in truth we are rapidly depleting our petroleum sources due to the increasing population and demand. In fact, as was initially theorized by the Hubbert Peak Theory in 1950, Earth peaked in oil supplies in 1973 and the largest oil resources that have been discovered since then have been in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Here it must be

One of the major issues in global affairs today consists of the supply of energy and other minerals and commodities. Michael Klare in “The End of Easy Everything” argues that the transformation from an effortless to a more resilient resource period will be expensive. Looking at the state of the supply of energy oil and natural gas today, I tend to agree with the findings as presented by Michael Klare.

Bank, T. W. (2014, June 01). Global Economic Prospects. Retrieved from Shifting priorities; building for the future: http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects

Energy security encompassing having affordable and reliable energy available while ensuing it is not detrimental to other natural resources. According to Mulligan (2010), “… the world’s most widely traded fuel, oil accounts for some 34 percent of primary energy consumption. Because resources are concentrated in a relatively small number of states, many other states depend upon a functioning global market and the continuing availability of imports” (p.79). The system the world obtains its fuel is one which is dependent of other countries, besides the United States. Relying on other countries can be detrimental to the United States and cause problems. Many would like to see alternatives to using natural resources. Alternatives are available to help with multiple energy

General J.H. Binford Peay III told a House subcommittee in 1997. “With over 65 percent of the world’s oil reserves located in the Gulf States of the region – from which the United States imports nearly 20 percent of its needs; Western Europe, 43 percent; and Japan, 68 percent –

One of the major issues in global affairs today consists of the supply of energy and other minerals and commodities. Michael Klare in “The End of Easy Everything” argues that the transformation from an effortless to a more resilient resource period will be financially, environmentally, socially, and politically costly. Looking at the state of the supply of energy oil and natural gas today, I tend to agree with the findings as presented by Michael Klare.

“National Security Consequences of United States Oil Dependence” is an article created by an Independent Task Force which emphasizes how in the future the United States can experience severe consequences from using an abundant amount of oil. "For the United States, with 4.6 percent of the world's population using 25 percent of the world's oil, the transition would be especially disruptive" (Task Force 212). The transition they describe is to an economy that relies less on petroleum. This dependence on oil could possibly result in the United States to suffer with economic, and social downfall as the entire country depends on the oil we obtain. One alternative to this oil dependency is to explore all American territory for oil, which involves

America the beautiful, land of the greed and the home of oil. Along with being a major superpower comes an insurmountable thirst for fossil fuels. Imperialist ideals and the corporate oil empire can bring stability and jobs but heavy costs also arise. Numerous solutions have been tried, but without fixing the underlying problem more issues are inevitable. Our over-consumption has an incredible effect on our reliance on foreign oil. OPEC, the Organization of the Oil Producing Countries, has supplied Americans with a constant flow of both oil and jobs. Nevertheless, progression comes with high cost to our environment, in addition to pulling us into international involvements. Increasing the United States’ domestic oil production was just a

In the past 100 years, the world has shifted enormously. Once, a world that only communicated when one nation was trying to take control of another, is now connected more than ever. This transformation began with the Industrial Revolution in a period from around 1760 to 1840. Thinking back to that time, we can easily think of noticeable differences between how the world was and how it is today. The United States was a small, developing country, still trying to overcome the effects of a costly revolution. Across the ocean, once the United States’ major rival, Great Britain, was still the greatest power in the world. And around the world, China and Japan were nowhere near the economic leaders they are today. However, the biggest changes weren’t the countries with the greatest power and size.

Another factor that makes oil vital is its abundance across the globe. For example, in the past few years, oil is being discovered in places not expected, especially West Africa (Krauss, 2011).

The world is depended on oil and soon oil will become more valuable than gold and could lead to a worldwide war. Price for oil could soar to above two hundred fifty dollars per barrel. Oil and other fuel cell also cause green house gases which contribute to global warming. China is consuming two times more petroleum than 1996 and India is projected to consume three times the oil it currently does by 2050. Global house gas emission has increased by twenty percent from 2003 to 2006. Energy consumption has increased exponentially throughout the globe. The U.S. department of energy projects energy consumption will increase seventy percent from 2003 to 2030. The world has agreed to reduce emission by twenty five percent before 2020 and by over