The Great Challenge: Oil (Video)

The Great Challenge: Oil

2014

The sleepless economy of America with the population of 350 million is busy producing and consuming day and night. The full manifestation of modern capitalism, which is the focus of worried glances from all over the world, has drowned the feelings of the children of past immigrants and present residents of the United States in a spectacular ecstasy or visual beauties and pleasures.

The driving force of this enormous economic wheel is only one thing - oil. U.S. oil consumption is about 25% of the world's total oil consumption. Despite this voracious appetite the United States oil reserves account for only 5% of the world's total reserves. Experts believe that the country's reserves will come to an end in 15 years.

Dick Cheney, adviser to the former president of the United States, also refers to the US growing dependence on oil imports, especially the Persian Gulf's oil, which will grow by 85% in 2020 and 95% in 2030. If we add Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and North and Northeast Africa to the Persian Gulf region we will reach the greater Middle East. A region which is host to about two-thirds of the world's proven oil reserves.

If you look at the energy reserves in the Middle East you will see America's fascination with this region more clearly. Saudi Arabia - 265 billion barrels, Iraq - 220, Iran - 151.2, The UAE - 136.7, Kuwait - 101.5, Oman 30.2, and Qatar 25.5, which makes a total of more than 853 billion barrels of oil. Meanwhile, the average amount of oil extraction by the four big producers of the OPEC was a hundred times the average oil production of the American oil wells, while the production costs were half of the cost of oil production in the United States. The desire to get hold of such great resources makes America resort to any plan.

Bush built his governments on the basis of a strategic concept that was stated clearly by neoconservative thinkers that the US needed to prevent its potential competitors from becoming powerful in order to maintain the stroll as the dominant power in the world and that was not possible without strengthening America's military power and the domination over oil resources.