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THE FIGHT FOR OIL
by
William F. Dankenbring
Oil is the largest international in–
dustry. lt is the commodity which
makes the wheels of our tech–
nological society go round. How did
the industrial nations become so in–
volved in the Middle East oí/ power
play? And is it too late for the big
oil-consuming nations to extricate
themselves?
T ET's UNDERSTAND
the stakes in the
L
Middle East. In the course of a
single day, about $200,000,000
worth of oil, at current price levels, is extracted from oil fields in
the Mideast. Roughly 24 million barreis of crude oil are pumped
out daily. This is enough to meet the growing needs of all of
Western Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, and
most of Asia, excluding China and the Soviet Union.
One hundred years ago, much of the region was little
more than wind-blown desert, the bleak landscape
interrupted only by an. occasional oasis of palm trees
an.d water. But with the discovery of"black gold," the
Arab nations, Iran and the Gulf states bordering the
Arabian sea began to amass fabulous wealth. and,
finally, power. Today, the very life-style of the Arab
peoples and of al! the industrial nations has been totally
altered. How did the world ever become so dependent on oil?
The Saga of Oil
The story began in 1859 when Edwin
L.
Drake
set up the United States' first oil derrick on a farm
near Titusville, Pennsylvania and struck oil at a
depth of about 69 feet. "Drake's
Folly," as his neighbors had
called it, was no longer a laugh–
ing matter. The oil rush was on
and countless small companies
PLAIN TRUTH February 1974