Foreword
Petroleum is the energy source that dominated the twentieth century and continues to be pivotal as we move into the twenty-first. In 1994, the United States relied on foreign imports for more than 50 percent of its petroleum needs, and this dependence is expected to increase to almost 70 percent by 2010.During the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s, which sent fuel prices soaring, U.S. gross national product declined and unemployment doubled. Some 20 years later, the Gulf War was fought in response to a threat to Middle East oil supplies. There is little doubt that oil availability in…
