Petroleum As Vital For Human Existence As Water

Monopolies are defined as an industry dominated by one corporation, or business, like standard oil. They are a main driver of inequality, as profits concentrate more on wealth in the hands of the few.(Atlantic). A monopoly has total or nearly all control of that industry. They are considered an extreme result of the U.S. free market capitalism. The business own everything, from the goods to the supplies to the infrastructure. This company will become big enough to buy out other competitors or even crush their competitor by lowering their prices to get the other business to go out of business. They will then control the whole industry without any restarted, having the prices be what they want and the product to be in what condition they want

Several oil-countries have been facing economic and political turbulence as a result of the crash in oil prices, and there is disagreement among OPEC as how to handle the situation. (Krauss) While this is happening, America’s oil production continues to rise, as it inches closer to becoming an energy superpower in production and consumption; and countries that depend on their oil exports face recession.

In addition to the US peak oil situation, the US Oil Drilling and Gas Extraction Industry faces heavy foreign market competition. In 2011, the US ranked 3rd in oil production, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia (Energy, 2012). Saudi Arabia’s OPEC governor expects Saudi output to rise steadily beyond 2030 with a 1.5 million barrel per day spare production capacity then (Energy, 2012). Russia holds the world’s largest

Benjamin Sovacool explains in his article that over the period of twelve years, the United States shale gas production increased 24.5 times the amount it produced in 1998. From 0.2 trillion cubic feet to an enormous 4.9 trillion cubic feet. Natural gas is also a huge financial benefit to North America. Before this drastic increase of fracking and natural gas production, the United States imported a clear majority of its oil and energy sources from the Middle East. This caused the middle east to obtain a control over the United States economic situation. For example, the 1979 oil embargo caused by OPEC (organization of petroleum exporting countries). According to Kimberly Amadeo, their decision to increase oil prices by a meager ten percent, caused oil rationing in the United States and worsened the already declining economy at this time. Since the increase in fracking and natural gas production, the U.S. has become decreasingly reliant on imported energy sources. Richard Janson denotes, that the impact of this influx of cheap gas has had many positive impacts on not only the economics of the energy industry, but foreign policy and the United States domestic policy. With the downfall in the need for imports for energy and the rise of hydraulic

OPEC has consistently held the U.S. hostage with fixed oil prices and the threat of embargos. Many of the countries that belong to OPEC are not friendly to the United States, including: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Libya, and Algeria. (Weil) The U.S. has declared many of these countries to be “state sponsors of terror”; however we still purchase their oil. (Fueling Terror) Increasing the United States’ oil production would give OPEC less of an opportunity to fix prices because demand for their product would fall. The peak oil production of ANWR is estimated to be up to 1.45 million barrels per day; that’s 1.45 million barrels of oil that OPEC would have to find another buyer for. They would either have to lower prices or production as a result of the flooded market. (Hastings) Currently the United States imports 4.885 million barrels of oil from OPEC daily. If we produced 1.45 million more barrels of oil per day we could cut our OPEC imports by more than twenty-five percent. (Petroleum Statistics) At $100 dollars per barrel that would be 145 million dollars that would stay in the United States every day; instead of being sent to countries that sponsor terrorism and reject basic human rights. Oil is fifty percent of Iran’s gross domestic product, fueling their ability to procure

Since its discovery back in the year 1858 crude oil has been become one of the most sought after resources on the face of the planet. It is due to this fact that the oil industry has fallen into a rather odd category in the case of globalization and seeking out new markets, new labor and new customers. The reason being that the need for crude oil and fuel is always present therefore the product of oil in its basic sense sells itself and the companies do not have to go out and publicly advertise it in the sense that clothing lines and other commodities do. Oil companies must focus more on the matter of why an individual should buy their oil and along with other alternative fuels over their competitors even though in the end the companies

Oil over the course of humanity has been referred to as the lifeblood of the world's economy. Though it might be called an overestimate, oil is arguably the most critical non-human economic resource that is crucial for the progress and growth of the economy. In his book, Yergin illustrates the economic, societal, political as well as the geostrategic importance of oil in the growth of the world's economy. The book takes the reader through a path that retrieves the historical journey of oil from

Petroleum is a thick and flammable mixture of gaseous, liquid and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the earth’s surface. It can be separated into fractions including natural gas fuels, lubricating oils and so on. There are some major oil producing regions around the globe. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia’s crude oil fields are the largest. But in Texas, the former world’s major oil region is now almost completely dry. The real catalyst for petroleum production is World War I. It is being produced in large amount during the war. Petroleum is a commercial product in this modern era. Sometimes, petroleum and crude oil are used to mean the same thing, or in other words, petroleum products after crude oil is refined in a factory. There are

Why should we worry about OPEC? Why do we need to get away from foreign oil? OPEC controls the oil prices on the world market. They can raise oil prices to benefit their bottom line. Last November crude oil prices went up 48 cents because Nigerian militants attacked a pipeline affecting oil production (“Oil Prices Find Floor”, n.d). It 's hard on Americans when the oil prices rise and it would be even harder if our foreign oil producers decided to stop trade with us. Not only would we be in danger of not being able to satisfy our wants, but our basic needs such as driving to work could be in danger. That is why this issue is a current geopolitical challenge for the United States.

So firms in those industries can, to one degree or another, influence total supply through their own output decisions. In changing market supply, they also can influence product price. Firms with downsloping demand curves are price makers. (McGraw-Hill) Monopolists can charge higher-than-competitive prices that result in an under allocation of resources to the monopolized product. They can stifle innovation, engage in rent-seeking behavior, and foster X-inefficiency. Even when their costs are low because of economies of scale, there is no guarantee that the price they charge will reflect those low costs. The cost savings may simply accrue to the monopoly as greater economic profit.

The oil and gas industry is crucial to the U.S. economy and plays a central role in its environment, society, and economic development . The U.S. consumes more oil than any other country. Products derived from oil include medicine, recreational sports items, cosmetics, plastic, chemicals, transportation liquids, etc... This is to say, crude oil is the most important natural resource of the industrialized nations, as it has assisted in the technical expansion and discovery of new sources and production of existing oil fields (Wintershall, 2015).

The end of conventional oil is the end of many different aspects of human life today, but it marks the beginning of a

The dependence on petroleum in today’s society would have stunned the 19th century producers of Pennsylvania “rock oil.” Since the advent of the modern petroleum industry, the demand and dependence upon petroleum and its products has steadily risen making it a highly valuable commodity in industrialized parts of the world. Petroleum and its byproducts are found in transportation fuels, fuel oils for heating and electricity generation, asphalt and road oil, and is part of the raw materials used to create chemicals, cosmetics, plastics, and synthetic materials found in almost all consumable products. Whether we realize, understand, or acknowledge it, petroleum is a resource incorporated into nearly every aspect of our lives. The founders of the oil industry in America could never have dreamed of humanity’s unprecedented dependence on petroleum. However, along with immense success and affluence in most of the world’s societies, it comes at a cost. As useful and beneficial as oil is to industry and business, petroleum has elicited an immensely harmful impact upon the world’s environment and ecosystems.

Fossil energy (i.e. coal, oil and natural gas) is generally considered as a main force that drives innovation of new technology and highly developed economy around the world from industrial revolution. It is also the “lifeblood” of the global economy and takes up 80% of world’s net primary energy supply. However, due to the huge exposure of oil reserves in Persian Gulf after World War I, geopolitical struggles and potential conflicts surrounding fossil energy resources of the Middle East gradually emerge. Michael Klare, the author of Blood and Oil, ever makes an argument in his book that exemplifies the unexpected interaction between geopolitics and geoeconomics in current global economy (“Review of

Now, the whole world’s population relies on oil deeply. Since the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, it is hard to imagine how our lives would be possible