By: Utkarsh Verma To: His Excellency Mr. Donohue; President of Mbantu

 The first Oil well was dug in China in the year 367 CE  Oil is one of the most required resources of our world today.  80% of oil comes from the Middle East with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar being the majors.  World’s largest oil spill took place in Kuwait during the firs Gulf war.

 Oil extraction provides a lot of jobs to people.  Asphalt, material used to make roads, is made from oil.  Pesticides, Fertilizers, phonograph records, furniture, photographic film all come form oil.  Helium, Sulfur and other valuable elements are produced from oil wells.  Oil provides fuel to run cars, jets, rockets and other transports.  Factories also use oil.  Oil provides a lot of money when sold to offshore lands.  Oil helps to create electricity; for example Geothermal electricity requires oil.

 Oil spills can occur causing huge economic and natural hazards and health hazards.  Use of oil adds to global warming due to the amount of CO 2 it exerts in the atmosphere.  Oil has caused wars and has created divide in society. For example the first and second Gulf Wars were about oil and Nigeria faces huge unrests due to the unequal division of oil revenue.  Good farming land is lost when oil extraction takes place.

 Oil spilled from sabotaged fields in Kuwait during the 1991 Persian Gulf War pooled in approximately 300 oil lakes. It caused various health problems due to smoke and economic problems as well.  In LEDCs workers are given low wages and not usually insure their employees.  Governments confiscate land in Asian countries like China. Governments also don’t provide a lot of subsidy for the land.  Protests also take place due to the confiscation of land.