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EDWIN L. DRAKE,
in top hat (right),
conceived the idea of drilling for oil .
On August 27, 18'59, near Titusville,
Pennsylvania, he struck oil using the
rig in the background. Below right:
Qatar oil field of Dukhay of the Qatar
Petroleum Company. Qatar and her
neighbors on the Arabian península
possess the world's largest known oil
reserves.
Top, Drake We/1 Mvsevm
Bottom, Ch. Simonpietri - Sygma
OPEC communiqué issued in late
December, Arabian sea oil pro–
ducers announced that, beginning
January 1, the price of crude oil
would more than double (from
$5.11 to $11.65 a barre!). This move
increased the price to more than
four times what it had been one
year previous1y - $2.59 a barrel. Al1
this bodes an
ill
wind for the West–
ern oil-dependent nations, espe–
cially Western Europe and Japan.
Burgeoning Demand
The United States, which pos–
sesses six percent of the earth's
people, consumes over 30 percent of
the earth's energy resources. The av–
erage American consumes in seven
days as much as most other people
in the wor1d will consume in an en–
tire year. Thus the United States is
also in a vulnerable position, as
growing energy needs outstrip lim–
ited supply.
In 1970, the United States used
710 million tons of oil or about 15
million barreis daily. By 1980, de–
mand is expected to be between 20
and 25 million barreis a day. Oil
from the north slope of Alaska may
produce roughly 2,000,000 barreis
PLAIN TRUTH February 1974
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