Lesson 3: Oil Trade

• What is oil?
Oil is the remains of ancient plants and animals, compressed
deep in the earth into liquid strings of hydrogen and carbon.
Discuss the importance of oil.
  At school: rulers, crayons, ink and cartridges, glue, coverings on books,
binders...
 For your health: coatings for pills, binding agent for creams, disposable
syringes...
Here are some  In the home: contact lenses, cosmetics, clothing, fabrics, nail polish,
deodorants, shampoo, paint, upholstery and carpets, detergents for washing up
examples of and laundry, dry-cleaning fluid...
 Out shopping: shopping bags, credit cards, egg cartons, plastic milk bottles
what we owe  While cooking: non-stick pans, cling film, storage containers
to oil, every  For building: roofing tiles, pipes, insulating material, paint

day of our  On the move: petrol and diesel for cars and lorries, emergency services and
trains, asphalt road surfaces

lives:  In the office: computer hardware, phones and faxes, diskettes, pens, chairs,
printing ink
 At your leisure: CDs, videos, cassette tapes, camera film, artists' paint, bicycle
handlebar grips, tires, crash helmets, football boots, trainers, shin pads,
windsurfers, roller blades
 Garden: fertilizers, pesticides, garden furniture
• Is oil a natural resource?
• What is the importance of oil?
• What is the importance of oil?

Electricity

Oil
Petrochemicals

Fuel for
transportation
Look at the prices of oil and their fluctuation over the years as presented in the graph on page
120.

If you observe the prices, then you notice that prices have fluctuated
over the years and they started increasing immensely as of the year
2000. This has been the case in the last few years too.
• The world’s supply of oil is concentrated in certain countries.
• Use the map to find them.
• Where is the world supply of oil concentrated?
What is the OPEC?
O: organization P: Petroleum E: Exporting C: Company
 The organization has 12 members. (Chart page 121)
 Headquarters in Vienna
What is the role of OPEC in 1973/1974?

Arab members formed an embargo on the US: prohibition of the

movement of oil ships in or out of the ports of a country (in this case

the embargo was on oil.)

OPEC raised the prices of petroleum to solve the problem.

- OPEC today: powers diminished because of the discovery of other

oil reserves in Alaska, Canada, Gulf of Mexico, etc…

- Future Challenges:

• Oil does not match the needs of people worldwide

• New reservoirs have to be found .
• Think of new ways to find domestic oil .
• Each country has to try and fulfill its needs.
Discuss the ways presented on page
122 in relation to conserving energy
since this will help eventually in
diminishing the use of oil.