Oil Demand and Supply: Some Facts

A. World Oil Reserves

This chart shows proven oil reserves for each region of the world.

  1. Which Middle Eastern nations have more oil reserves than all of Europe?
  2. About how much more oil reserves are there in Saudi Arabia than in North America?
  3. On a globe or world map, find the five "Mideast" nations shown here.
  4. On a globe or world map, compare the distances from the Middle East to England, the United States, and South Korea.

B. Oil Consumption by Region

  1. Using this chart and chart A, tell which regions are net oil exporters of.
  2. In which region did oil consumption increase the most? During what time period did consumption go up most quickly in that region?
  3. Why do you think there was a sudden drop in consumption in Eastern Europe and the former USSR around 1992?
  4. Get out your calculator! If North America did not import any oil, how long would its reserves last at the current rate of consumption? (Note that Chart A is in billions of barrels overall, while Charts B and C are in millions of barrels per day.)

C. Oil Consumption in Asia

  1. Which two countries account for the most increase in consumption?
  2. Why do you think there was a drop in consumption around 1997-98?
  3. Get out your calculator again! If the Asia/Pacific region (not including the Middle East) did not import any oil, how long would its reserves last at the current rate of consumption?

D. The Flow of Oil in the United States

  1. What is the ratio of crude oil imports to domestic crude oil production?
  2. What is the ratio of gasoline consumption to that of jet fuel?
  3. According to this chart, how important is ethanol to our overall effort to conserve petroleum resources?
  4. Get out your calculator again! Suppose the US were to reduce its consumption of gasoline by 30%. If everything else stayed the same, about how many barrels of oil would be saved per day? Per year?

E. US Oil Consumption by Sector

  1. Why do you think there was a sharp drop in consumption in the early 1980s?
  2. Why did the portion of oil consumed in the transportation sector increase in the early 1980s?
  3. Take a look at Chart C. How does the oil used by the US transportation sector compare to the amount used by China?
  4. Why do you think US oil consumption increased so rapidly during the 1990s?