How Does The Price Of Oil Influence The Geopolitical Landscape?
Close observers of geopolitics note that China has been increasingly aggressive in its pursuit of sovereign oil supplies, seeking to ensure a continuous pipeline of supply of finite resources. Growing international demand for oil has driven up prices, and has changed political strategy for many nations who seek access to reliable natural resources.
When China joined the WTO (World Trade Organization), the nation agreed to abide by international arbitration for economic disputes, and many of these complaints have revolved around China’s nationalization of energy companies with an active acquisition strategy. Global economic policies are strongly tied to the long-run increase in oil prices, which has necessitated action by a growing number of countries to secure oil supplies through political means.
Oil is viewed as a strategic national asset and with the decline in global oil reserves, many countries are seeking to obtain control over both domestic and imported oil supplies into the future. Without a credible alternative for energy generation of transportation, national politics is dictated by a desire to protect against a shift in international oil prices. By reducing reliance upon imports, many nations, such as Japan and Israel, have actively sought partnerships with oil-exporting nations to safeguard against future scarcity of oil reserves. China has been criticized for its alliances with Nigeria, which exports vast amount of oil but has a mixed record on human rights and distribution of oil revenues. With the growth of global conflicts in many regions, oil continues to be a central issue in military, economic and foreign policy.
Many oil rich nations continue to horde supplies, denying their population the access to basic resources such as education, clean energy, solid governance and reliable social safety nets. With an influx of oil revenues, for example, Iran and Venezuela have been able to fund their national policies without a clear mandate from the electorate.
At Oilprice.Com we specialize in providing free commodity quotes you can publish on your own sites. We have detailed information sections on the price of oil and other commodities and in depth articles on Finance and Geopolitics.
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Investing Articles Via RSS!
