Chapter 17 Summary and Analysis

For the past fifty years, oil has become an abundant and inexpensive fuel in most developed countries. With the end of cheap and easily recovered oil in Saudi Arabia, oil-consuming nations will need to adjust to a new world where oil is scarce and far less affordable. It is urgent that the world's energy planners begin looking at solutions now before it is too late. The twilight of Saudi Arabia's oil production era presents many questions that must be answered at a global level. These questions include the long-term price and affordability of oil, how to prolong or extend existing oil supplies, and how to allocate available supplies. There are also the questions of how the world's population can modify consumption patterns and an investment in conventional oil production and alternative energy forms. In a world of dwindling oil supplies, competition...