Study of oil geopolitics and impact on oil prices

Abstract

Epitomes of modern-day wealth like the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds have the 18th century ‘oil rush’ to thank for their fortune. John D. Rockefeller is the founder of the Standard Oil Company, the predecessor to oil giant Exxon Mobil while the Rothschild family commissioned the trade of oil tankers to Russia – the first vessel, the Murex, became the flagship tanker of Shell Transport and Trading which merged with Royal Dutch Petroleum to become Royal Dutch Shell1 . The early 20th century saw an unprecedented rise in the demand for oil. Two consecutive world war caused a shift in the functionality of oil from a source of energy to a weapon of warfare. It powered ships, planes and tanks of the military culminating in an increase in oil exploration and discovery. In the late 20th century, the structure of the global oil industry transitioned in that influence shifted from oil-consuming regions like US, Europe to oil-producing countries with the formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (‘OPEC’). The OPEC, founded in 1960, comprised five member states at the time of its formation - by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, is now composed of 9 additional countries in addition to the founding states as of 2020. As historical trends indicate, oil is one of the most volatile commodities and we have chosen oil geopolitics as our subject of study in order to understand the various factors and policies that shape the oil market and the evolution thereof over the years. We also wish to study modern day oil alliances as well as the impact of the use of the US dollar as a reserve currenc