global patterns and trends of
consumption/production of oil
case studies
consumption
United States
trend: since the early 1980s oil
consumption has gone up drastically,
however in the early 1990s there was a
decrease before rising again
pattern: oil consumption has been
increasing since it was first
discovered
production
Venezuela
pattern: have been consistently
producing oil for decades,
though there were some steep
declines in 1999 and 2003
trend: oil production is much
less than it was in the 1980s
Saudi Arabia
pattern: produce a large amount of oil but
every some years there is some significant
decrease (due to war, price changes, etc)
before rising again
trend: production increase until
around 2007, now it's steady/declining
contentions
political
international relations: if a
country needs to import oil,
they must maintain good
relations
carbon tax: if this is introduced, it
makes oil more expensive and
alternative options become more
appealing
economic
invest in alternatives: as oil runs out,
more energy companies and countries will
invest in other sources
price of oil: more countries are developing
and with more people demanding oil, the
price steadily increases
environmental
oil spills: when transporting oil by sea or
pipelines, there is always a risk. the oil causes
immediate damage to the environment but
also long term effects to be seen later
greenhouse effect/global warming: fossil
fuels (like oil) are the major contributors so
it's becoming more important to stop relying
so much on oil and look into other options
social
Human cost: people go
through some extreme
lengths to gain/protect oil and
many have died even
exploitation of workers: many
unskilled and poor people are
hired by oil companies to do the
more dangerous jobs
maps/graphs
production
consumption
Q-meaning
pattern: Middle east, Africa,
Russia produces the
most oil (200 mil tons)
anomaly: Venezuela (S.
America) also produces a
LOT of oil (50-199.9 mil tons)
oil production will continue
to reach its peak in
countries and decline
will continue to find
oil/have reserves
consider anti and
neo-Malthuasian views
As the population grows and countries develop, oil will
be consumed and produced more and more causing
economic, environmental, social, and political problems in
addition to a shortage.