The Changing Face of Global Oil

I'm not sure if this is foreign policy institution so much as an over all strategic shift that will need to be addressed. Saudi Arabia is on the ropes, the entire Middle east in fact is on the ropes. Probably not until after 2020 but in the scale of things that's a small amount of time.

I can't find the sources I wanted one is a Rand publication on what is necessary for the development of US Oil Shales and the other is a publication on reports of Canadian Oil Sands but I only wanted these to give resources to figures on how much oil there is.

I know these off the top of my head anyway.

US has a resource (different than a reserve which is proven to a different standard) of 1.5 Trillion barrels of oil.

Canada's is 1.7 trillion barrels.

I have heard but unsubstantiated that Venezuela's is 1.8 trillion barrels but I am uncertain of that.

These figures stack-up against Global reserves of 1.75 Trillion barrels. What it means is Canada alone potentially has as much oil as all of the rest of the world. But so does the United States and Venezuela.

This means an inevitable shift in geopolitical center from the middle east and OPEC nations to the western hemisphere. And if you want my investment advice I'd suggest one of the investors in Syncrude which is developing the Oil Sands of Canada...that's more than a hundred years worth of growth right there

While the middle east is still a problem, I think Americans are losing sight of what matters by focusing on the Middle East. President Carter made it a policy that we must protect Oil at all cost, this has been compounded by Executive Agreements by subsequent presidents, by the Bush family, etc. so that now we are in a terrible mess with a part of the world that is worth the grains of sand that comprise it.

The Middle East has a dying breath to control global markets where oil is concerned but really China is the only people they can influence anymore, Saudi Oil mostly goes to China or Europe, and China is seeking new supplies of Oil - as Canada comes on line it will undoubtedly catch China's interest more than the paltry 250 Billion barrels of oil that Saudi Arabia has to offer.

So if I were to suggest a policy agenda, it would be to appease the middle east for another intollerable 10 to 20 years then tell them good bye once and for all, sadly this will undoubtedly mean the deaths of millions as the middle east is currently over populated as it is for their current GDP...god knows what will happen to them when their economies collapse.

But that's not really our concern is it? To feed a dog that will bite our hand?