MATT CAMPBELL & BRENDAN CARROLL OIL AND THE MIDDLE EAST

MIDDLE EASTERN OIL PRODUCTION Accounts for 43% of oil exports Holds 2/3 of world oil reserves Saudi Arabia accounts for 37% of these reserves ( 00.pdf)

USA OIL DEPENDENCE 85% of all energy consumed in the US is from oil and natural gas 40% of which comes directly from oil Where do we get our oil?

YOU MAY BE SURPRISED USA receives 40% of its oil needs from domestic production We import most of our oil from Canada, about 200 million barrels annually 160 million barrels are imported from the Middle East, Saudi Arabia in particular

DOES IT MATTER? Anyone following the oil market will say one thing: No Right behind the Middle East, we still import a large fraction of our oil from Mexico and Venezuela Once refined, oil is oil

SO WHY DO WE CARE? As stated, the Middle East holds 2/3 of world’s oil reserves A possible reason why we are so interested in stabilizing politically underdeveloped regions of the Middle East?

THE “CURSE” With political instability comes economic volatility With the main export from the Middle East being a finite resource, their economy is exposed to commodity market swings With harsh economic times with political instability comes internal conflict Could this have an impact on oil production?

THINK LONG-TERM Oil is a finite resource that we depend on too much With an oil shortage crisis looming along with a known dependency on the resource comes concern with the political stability of oil producing countries Only one recession has occurred without a change in the price per oil

REFERENCES 0.pdf 0.pdf t/info/oil.html t/info/oil.html does-america-get-oil-you-may-be-surprised does-america-get-oil-you-may-be-surprised /10/a-brief-history-of-oil-prices-and-middle- east-tensions-fear-of-a-black-gold-shortage.html