The Shifting Geographic Center of Petroleum Production and Its Effect on Pricing Systems

J N viewing the record of world petroleum production over the last twenty-odd years, perhaps the most remarkable aspect aside from the two and one-half fold increase in total world production is the rise of Middle East production. In 1929 the aggregate output from the Middle East group of producers-Iraq, Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt-was only 3 per cent of the world's total. In the same year the North American group-United States, Canada, and Mexico-produced nearly 71 per cent of the world's output. Most of the remainder was accounted for by South America and Eastern Europe, which for the purposes of this study includes all of the U.S.S.R. Although the 1950 output totals are not as yet available in final form, preliminary figures show that Middle Eastern production has increased about 15 times to a level of 1,800,000 barrels per day. Whereas in 1929 the region accounted for only 3 per cent of the world's supply, in 1950 it made up over 17 per cent. On the other hand, North American production, although nearly doubling since 1929, contributed in 1950 a little less than 55 per cent of the world's total. The only other noteworthy change was in South America which increased its share of world output from nearly 13 per cent in 1929 to 17 per cent in 1950. Production figures for the remaining regions indicate that each of them in 1950 produced a smaller portion of the world's output than it did in 1929. At the close of 1950 the world's reserves of petroleum were estimated by World Oil to be a little over 95,000,000,000 barrels, 50.6 per cent of which was attributed to the Middle Eastern group, 30.2 per cent to North America, and 11.2 per cent to South America.' Most of the remainder was assigned to Eastern Europe and the U.S.S. R. In viewing another aspect of the record, world-wide consumption of petroleum, there has not been since 1929 any regional change quite as significant as the change in petroleum production. In 1929 North American consumption was 72.5 per cent of the world's total consumption, while the next largest consumer, Western Europe, accounted for only 10.3 per cent. Of the balance Eastern Europe, including the U.S.S.R., and the Far East, including Australia and New Zealand, consumed all but 5 per cent. In 1950, however, consumption of mineral oils in North America was nearly two and one-half times greater than in 1929, although the share of the world's total consumption dropped to *Presented before a joint session of the AAAS Section E, Geology and Geography, and the Geological Society of America, in a symposium on foreign petroleum geology and petroleum economics on December 28, 1951, in Philadelphia. 1 World Oil, Vol. 132, No. 3, February 15, 1951. Houston, Texas

Agricultural economics · Archaeology · Economics · Geography · Middle East · Peninsula · Production (economics) · Global Energy and Sustainability Research · Market Dynamics and Volatility · Natural Resources and Economic Development

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  Open Access•James L Wescoat•Progress in Human Geography•1992

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