ABSTRACT
Oil has not always been as important as it is today. During the nineteenth century, coal was the dominant source of energy. However, beginning with the twentieth century, the importance of oil has grown spectacularly, so that, a decade or two ago, it overtook coal as the major source of energy in the world. From 1870 onwards, world oil production rose from an initial production rate of 10 million tons in 1872 to 100 million tons in 1890, the early 1980s. Arab oil occupies a critical and central position in the world energy situation. In 1980 Arab proven reserves exceeded 333 billion barrels, or over 52 percent of the world total. Imported oil accounted for over two thirds of the domestic availability of oil in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries in 1980, and Arab oil contributed about 71 percent of European and about 47 percent of United States oil imports in the same year.
