ABSTRACT
The natural resource base of North Africa and South-west Asia is distinguished by the reserves of oil and natural gas. Low rainfall makes water supply a problem almost everywhere, except in parts of Turkey and Iran. Apart from the processing of oil, there is little industry. Several of the countries depend heavily on the oil industry for government revenues and direct and indirect employment. If oil consumption is reduced in the industrial countries as a result of progress in developing renewable energy sources or through concern over the effect on the environment of the combustion of fossil fuels, the economies of the oil producers would suffer greatly. Again, the discovery of large new oil reserves elsewhere in the world could reduce the influence of the Middle East on oil prices.
