ABSTRACT
The major feature of the energy policies of Western industrialized nations which led to the energy crisis was and is an overdependence on oil and natural gas. None of these nations, including the US, is self-sufficient in these fuels. Oil and natural gas currently supply more than three-quarters of the current energy needs of the industrialized world. Utilization of domestic petroleum resources is already constrained by available supply. US imports supply approximately 40 percent of its petroleum consumption. It is estimated that US known and recoverable oil and natural gas reserves including Alaskan oil, if used at the current rate, will be depleted in about 60 years 9 . The US has already utilized almost half of its potential petroleum resources.
