Oil/Gas Shortage Oil and Gas

Oil/Gas Shortage

Oil and Gas Shortages

The essay begins with a short presentation of the current society, which is affected by various changes in behaviors and beliefs. The most relevant concept that defines the current society is consumerism, basically the fact that we consume much more than we would need in order to survive. And this then leads to a constant need to get increased access to more natural resource. But these resources are becoming next to extinct within the United States and the country's officials have made tremendous efforts to penetrate other countries, generally third world countries, and get their natural resources. But these resources are also limited, and will not support the current way of life. Several studies have been conducted and have come up with different results, but the fact is that if carry on consuming the natural resources at this rate, the planet itself will soon be destroyed.

After the introduction part on the contemporaneous society, its demands and threats, the essay will carry on with the problem posed by the shortage in natural gas and crude oil. Also, the American characteristics of their problem with the shortage will be presented, including features such the total amount of consumed, produced and imported gas and oil, alongside with the country's main trade partners. The United States generally imports two thirds of the consumed oil and their primary source is Canada, followed by Saudi Arabia and Mexico (Energy Information Administration, 2008). The situation for natural gas is slightly more favorable, as the United States only imports one forth of the entire consumed amounts (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008). The natural gas comes from various sources, the primary three ones being Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria and Egypt (Energy Information Administration, 2007).

The countries in the Middle East do not face this problem, as they have sufficient reserves; however, they are likely to engage in combat due to water shortages. Within the United States on the other hand, access to water is quite increased (despite the massive reduction in fresh water sources), but the oil and gas pose a different problem. There are several issues which could be presented as proof in this direction, a most relevant one being the newly formed preference of American drivers towards smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles. The paper will continue here with more information on the U.S. automobile industry as to offer a clear example of how oil shortages influence the industry and the consumers' behavior. And the reason why these modifications have actually occurred is given by an increasing price of the barrel of crude oil.

After identifying the features of the society which lead to increased consumption, but also the American problems with the shortage of oil and natural gas, the essay will move on to identify and discuss several causes for the shortage, as well as the increased price for the barrel of oil. The two are basically interconnected and the most simplistic explanation would be that the decreasing natural resources are unable to support the increasing demands, and as such, since the demand is far larger than the actual supply, the price increases. But the basic rule of political economy may not be sufficient to best understand the matter; therefore, the problem will be analyzed within the international context.

An additional cause, aside the diminishing resources compared against the increasing demand, could be given from within the United States and would materialize in an unstable economy and a weaker dollar, which is less trusted by the exporting countries. Then, the country possesses limited capacity to refine the oil, and these facilities are restricted by an increased demand, technological limitations and even environmental concerns, which force them to increase operating expenditure and eventually influence the retail price. Other reasons, this time outside the United States, could refer to increasing political tensions between importing and exporting countries, but also the global regulations imposed by various organizations influencing the market of oil and gas.