Essay on importance of oil in today's world
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Essay about The World Importance of Oil
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Show More The importance of oil to the modern world is unique in character and incredibly far-reaching in scope. It is a singularly autonomous variable in the world economy, just as, if not more potent and influential than Federal Reserve decisions, the Euro-Dollar exchange rate, conditions in the U.S or stock market indexes. Oil availability and price affect the output capacity, rate of growth and level of inflation throughout the world. In the modern world, oil affects transportation, heating, production and the military. One would be hard pressed to find a substance or phenomena in world history that has held a comparable position.
The arrival of the automobile at the turn of the century provided a new use and market for petroleum products. Home, businesses and militaries found increasing uses for oil as a source of energy. Oil was becoming more and more interwoven with everyday processes and it found new uses and markets. The first half of the 20th century was marked by the rise of `the Seven Sisters', 7 companies that would overwhelmingly dominate the oil industry until it centennial anniversary and remain huge agents in the industry today. They were Exxon, Gulf, Texaco, Mobil, Socal, B.P. and Shell. All were western companies, 5 American, one Anglo-Dutch and one English.
The last 50 years have seen the importance and influence of oil, and the world's dependence on it, continue to increase and the balance of industry power to change. Producer nations that contain voluminous reserves have gained the spotlight and made themselves the most dominant players in the world petroleum trade. This trend was both represented and organized by OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. This organization would become the most vital force in the petroleum market, crucial in production and price determination. It would direct unprecedented power and prestige to heretofore-backward nations and regions and make the Middle East a crucial factor in world politics.