Why is oil a vital resource – both globally and in the US economy?

Question

Ok, I need some help with geog hwk, can you guys please help me with reasons why oil is important? I have to write quite a bit about it for a project.
Thank you x

Answer 1

you should be doing this yourself but they make petrol from it which goes in cars which have endless uses

Answer 2

Oil as a myriad of uses in industry. As well as making petrol and diesel fuel from it, it is used in the making of polymers (plastics).
Economically without the internal combustion engine transportation of raw goods and finished materials would be at a high cost, it's true you could transport by railway using steam but the efficiency of steam compared to diesel is low and therefore the cost of transportation per unit using steam is far higher than diesel; this translates into higher prices at the retail end.
Many things that are made of plastic today were formerly made of metal, wood, rubber,or other materials examples being toy cars, (although some still are), the dashboards on cars, electrical plugs, and girl's dollies were made of china, which was expensive. It is usual to be able to produce in a polymer a good at less than 2 per cent of the cost of the most expensive suitable material and this of course brings down the retail price.
In many countries oil is the only viable way of producing electricity in sufficient quantities to supply demand. First world countries cannot survive without consuming great quantities of electrical power (which is why the nuclear option is the only real choice). Burning the oil produces heat, this heats water to steam, steam turns a turbine, the turbine shaft turns a dynamo and electricity is output. Where coal is scarce and nuclear is not an option, oil provides the power needed by industry.
In the US economy all of the above is true but the fact that so many inefficient cars run about there adds an extra importance. US cars tend to be big and give very little miles per gallon and so demand for roadfuel (petrol or diesel) is much higher.
In the economic infrastructure the tax dollar/pound/euro paid by the companies is a mainstay in budget forecasts. Particularly in Britain revenues gathered on fuels are very high and the government uses them as a cash cow. For every pound spent refuelling a British car only about 23 pence is paying for the petrol, the rest is in taxes. In te US te tax is significantly lower but because there are more cars filling up more regularly the tax revenue is still enormous. The supply end is taxed too in the form of corporate taxes and contributes a significant ammount to treasuries.
In 1973 Europe plunged into crisis due to the actions of OPEC when it looked as though our needs in oil would not be met at a viable price. The discovery of North Sea Oil made Britain fairly less vulnerable but that is running out. Fairly soon Middle Eastern oil will be running dry and we will become dependant on American and Ukrainian reserves. In another hundred years or so they will be spent too which is why bio-chemists are trying to synthesise it from plants and car manufacturers are trying to get away from the internal combustion engine.

Answer 3

Ask George Bush. And if he won't talk ask Noam Chomsky.