Political turmoil in the Middle East has brought the price of a barrel of oil over $100. In the U.S., gasoline is averaging $3.50 per gallon. In response, President Obama is considering opening up the nation’s strategic oil reserve. Unrest in the Middle East always has a direct correlation to our payments at the pump: OPEC’s oil embargo in 1973, the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s, and Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 all led to spikes in oil and gas prices around the world. Although the losses in Libya’s oil production have only reduced the global oil supply by one percent, the Middle East is far from stable.
To help us look into what exactly is the nation’s oil reserve and how much oil is there, we’re joined by Lisa Margonelli, a Fellow at the New America Foundation and author of the book “Oil on the Brain – Petroleum’s Long Strange Trip to Your Tank.”