ABSTRACT
The level of per capita oil consumption within a country is a function of two related considerations. The first is the ability or otherwise of oil to compete with other sources of primary energy—viz.: coal, natural gas, hydro-electricity and nuclear power—in relative prices which may, of course, be affected by other than commercial considerations—in particular, by government intervention in the fuel economy—and in convenience of use in processes for which oil provides an alternative source to the others for power or heat. The second main consideration determining the per capita use of oil is the degree of economic development that has been attained. It is such development, measured by the intensity of industrialization, including transport facilities, which, to a large degree, determines the overall level of energy use, to which, as already indicated, oil consumption is related.
