🛢️ Lesson 31: Oil and Gas

Oil powers transportation, plastics, chemicals, shipping, aviation, and industry. Even as the world moves toward cleaner energy, oil and gas still shape politics, prices, and alliances.

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE sit on major oil and gas reserves. This transformed desert regions into globally important energy powers.

Russia is a major oil and gas power. Canada has large oil sands and gas resources. The United States became one of the world's largest producers through shale oil and gas.

Oil does not only come from the ground. It must move. The Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal, Turkish Straits, and Strait of Malacca are critical routes. A problem in one narrow place can affect prices everywhere.

Oil can make countries rich, but it can also create corruption, conflict, inequality, and dependence. This is sometimes called the resource curse.

The world is slowly shifting toward renewables, batteries, electric vehicles, and lower-carbon energy. But the transition is uneven. Geography still decides who has sun, wind, uranium, hydro, oil, gas, and minerals.