Introduction
Petroleum, or crude oil, is a naturally occurring fossil fuel that is formed when dead organisms, buried under rock, are subject to extended periods of heat and pressure. Once extracted from the ground, typically done by drilling, the crude oil can be turned into products like gasoline, plastic, and pharmaceuticals. The many uses of oil, combined with the importance of oil products, makes it one of the most profitable materials in the world.
Oil reserves refer to the amount of oil a country can extract at a financially reasonable cost. However, the amount that is in reserve will change as the price of oil changes, because the reasonableness of the cost is closely tied to the actual market value of the oil. Also, oil has provided many countries a reliable resource that their economies are based around, for instance states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates are all somewhat dependent on oil revenues. However, they have recently sought to diversify their economies due to the gradual instability that basing your economy on one resource. Furthermore, if a state had high levels of “liquid gold” it is not necessarily a good thing according to the “oil spoils” concept, which argues that the presence of oil revenues or other extracted natural resources in a country causes political instability.
Despite its many uses, oil production is highly contentious, mostly due to its effects on the environment and climate change. Notably, the extraction, refining, and burning of oil and its products release large quantities of greenhouse gasses. In response to the environmental impacts of oil production, countries have begun to seek alternative sources of energy to replace oil; rather, they are keeping their oil in reserves under the ground.
Learn more about oil reserves by country by scrolling the map and charts.
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