The Importance of Oil in U.S. Foreign Policy Essay

World War II prompted U.S. leaders to pay greater attention to the oil resources of the Persian Gulf region, because in order to maintain its status as one of the global elites in oil in the case of a domestic shortage, the United States needed to secure an available foreign oil source during the war.

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

However, the government found it difficult to decide upon and state one overriding reason for going to war. Was it to oppose aggression or was it just to protect global oil supplies? Other powers were more directly concerned as consumers of Persian Gulf oil, but they were not as eager to commit military force, to risk their youth in battle and to pay for the costs of the war. Critics of President Bush continued to maintain that he was taking advantage of the issue of energy supplies in order to manipulate the U. S. public opinion in favor of war.

It is easy to point out that prior to 1979 the US government should have done more to avoid such a heavy reliance on foreign oil. Fiscal policy, for years, was not properly structured to enable energy independence. During the Carter years, policies regarding energy use reduction primarily involved lowering the legal highway speed limit and by encouraging people to use less energy to cool and heat their buildings. Carter’s proposals for a broader energy program were constantly rejected by Congress.

Oil is one of the most important natural resources known to mankind. For most societies in the world, oil is the principal natural resource that fuels their economies. Then why, in this great age of communication and technology, do we need to be concerned about a natural resource like oil? Simple. Nearly 98% of everything you have or do is in some way related to crude oil. Heat for your home, gas for your car, 2 liter plastic bottles for pop, and petroleum jelly are just a few examples of products created from crude oil. The United States has the greatest standard of living in the world, as well as the largest economy. Why? Because we have always tried to maintain control over the supply, as well as price, of oil. Over the last 10 years, the U.S. economy has undergone the largest economic expansion in history and cheap oil has fueled this unprecedented growth. (Faulkner)

The US foreign policy towards the Middle East can be divided into three major epochs the first during the Cold War. Second after the Cold War till the 9/11 event and the third epoch is after the 9/11. During the Cold War the Containment Policy influenced the United States foreign policy in the Middle East. The three main concerns in the Middle East for the United States were oil, protecting Israel, and containing communism made the United States’ foreign policy in the region defensive, reactive, and pragmatic. The United States sought peace and stability within the Middle East region in order to prevent Middle Eastern countries from taking sides between the two superpowers. Preventing war was essential to Containment Policy. After the end

Exportation of United States’ crude oil has recently become a major topic of debate due to enhanced oil discovering techniques. These new production and extraction methods have been developed to fully produce reservoirs across the country. Since 1973, the United States’ government has placed rigid restrictions on the exportation of crude oil produced within the country (Johnson). These restrictions have prohibited the sale of U.S. crude oil to foreign markets (with some exceptions). President Richard Nixon proposed these bans under the 1973 Oil Embargo Act (Worstall). This act was used to promote energy security across the U.S. after the “first oil shock” occurred globally (Muffin). Well over 40 years later, the energy sector is still defined by this embargo act. “…it has become an anachronism at a time when the United States is one of the world’s biggest oil producers.” (Johnson) This has led many people to question the validity of the existing restrictions placed on crude oil exports. It has also sparked a substantial push for innovation and reform within the oil industry.

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

The United States has made great strides with its oil industries. In fact oil is used in a plethora of products that are commonly used every day such as plastics. The use of oil has allowed the citizens to travel globally, to enjoy the freedoms the combustible engine have provided and to produce affordable energy sources to handle the tasks of living daily life. However, the problem is that oil is not renewable and is unclean. It not only destroys the atmosphere but those who control the majority of the oil are considered the richest countries among the world. All other countries must depend upon those few countries for the excess oil that they provide. This puts the United States at risk for shortages if differences arise between those countries and puts limits on the sort of political sanctions that can be placed on those countries if they commit obvious criminal acts against humanity or threaten war. The fine balancing act of pleasing the Middle East and still maintaining autonomy in the United States even while the United States depends on the Middle East for most of its oil is a double-edged sword. The dependency on foreign oil needs to be reduced to a minimum. There are options open to renewable, clean energy sources. There are alternative fuels that are not necessarily clean but are not crude oil and would help to lessen the need for Middle Eastern assistance. There are however several blockages to

Subsequent to the British withdrawal “east of the Suez,” the United States (US) assumed the mantle of guarantor of Middle East stability. In furtherance of that stability, prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran, along with Saudi Arabia, was considered one of the “Twin Pillars” of American support aimed at limiting Soviet access to Middle East Oil. As a result of the revolution in Iran, President Jimmy Carter, in his 1980 State of the Union Address, defined what came to be called The Carter Doctrine: “An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.” A new Iran, hostile to America, threatened American interests by potentially allying itself with the Soviet Union and placing the vital Strait of Hormuz at risk to commercial shipping carrying oil to the United States. Now, after nearly four decades of American provided security in the Arabian Gulf, the Soviet threat is gone and a highly integrated global oil market is swamped with excess supply. However, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Arabian Gulf, remains of vital interest to the US and events there continue to threaten global maritime security.

The petroleum industry has long been independent on other countries for oil. We have been lucky enough to live in a time of peace for most of our lives. But as we found out with the gulf war, relations between the U.S. and the Middle East are sometimes shaky. The Persian Gulf area is where two-thirds of the world?s known oil reserves are located. The Persian Gulf is also one the most politically volatile areas in the world. Over sixty-one percent of the oil used by transportation vehicles must be imported from outside the U.S. (Renewable Fuels Association, 1999) Oil consumption in the U.S. is not expected to slow down unless something is done. In fact, oil consumption is expected to rise over twenty percent by the year 2015.

American government, for the whole historical period was likely to pursue interests beyond her land’s border. There is an opinion that presidents since Harry Truman have recognized that there were “four basic interests in the Middle East – the Security of Israel, access to oil, cooperation with the Soviet Union (since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the interests doesn’t exist anymore. Instead is the relation with Russia), and the upholding of certain principles.” (Tillman, 1982, p. 62) The United States, nowadays has two main interests: one is the presence of oil and the other is the claim to religious origins. Oil seems to be the

Post-1945, there emerged an international oil establishment named the postwar petroleum order. Before 1939, the output of petroleum in the Middle Eastern countries was not high and the region contributed only a marginal share to the world petroleum production. Before the postwar years, British Petroleum (BP) was the dominant player in the petroleum market however, after the war, five American companies broke BP’s monopoly. This postwar order was characterized by a corporate consolidation of the major oil companies in the Middle East. The primary aim of the order was to maximize the production of petroleum in the Persian Gulf and supply the increased

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The United States has been involved in the affairs of the Middle East for decades and they’ve had various reasons for being there, whether it was to wage war or to prevent outside influence that would undermine their own influence in the region, it always seemed to revolve around one thing: oil. As we all know, oil is a very profitable resource and it’s a huge part of many nations’ economies and because this is the case many wars are fought over this black liquid. The U.S. is no different in that they did just about anything to maintain their access to Middle East oil. As a result, United States actions in the Middle East today has been formed through the decades long desire for their oil.