The topic is the transformation of Saudi Arabia through the discovery and utilization of oil over the years, as well as how the oil rich nations compares to Venezuela in terms of economic success and environmental factors contributing to oil quality and therefore economic value. Instructions below.
For your final paper you will be making an original argument about some aspect of your approved research topic and using source-based evidence to back it up. Your paper will mainly be based on the primary and secondary sources you are finding through your research, however you are also encouraged to supplement these sources with any course readings you find relevant.
Your paper will need:
An introduction. Your argument and thesis statement should be clearly expressed in this part, as well as an explanation of why what you are saying is important (the “so what? question”).
The overall context, both of your selected topic and how it fits into the broader questions of environmental history. This portion will likely be based mainly on secondary sources.
To demonstrate your argument based on both primary and secondary sources.
A conclusion
Outlining before and proofreading after are both very strongly recommended.
Due MAY 1
7-10 pages, 12 point font, one inch margins, Chicago style footnote citations (not in-text).
Below is attached the draft paper, and below this sentence I will attach a small excerpt detailing what the paper should focus on in particular!
How Saudi Arabia compares to Venezuela in regard to oil reserves, oil production, and the economic state of both nations due to such.
· What’s the argument
Oil comprises 40% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP and 25% of Venezuela’s GDP, so both nations’ economies rely heavily on it, but Venezuela takes a harder hit by the reduction in oil prices for several reasons, which I will get into briefly. First I want to also mention that Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves with a figure of 304 billion barrels reported in 2021, and Saudi Arabia trails right behind with 266,578,000,000 barrels of proven oil reserves as of 2016, but reserves are only one aspect of a nation’s standing on the international market with the main aspect being its export volume. Venezuela has inadequate burial conditions and so the cost of extraction is more expensive than that of the gulf nations and more specifically Saudi Arabia at $25 a barrel for Venezuela and under $10 For Saudi. This means when the international oil prices lower, Venezuela will reduce its oil extraction and export volume because operating costs outnumber revenue. In addition, Venezuela has poor oil quality due to the low viscosity index and wax which makes it inadequate for lubricant manufacture without first employing solvent treating processes. A lubricant with a higher viscosity index is preferable, because it provides a more stable lubricating film over a wider temperature range. With that being said, the poor oil quality, expensive extraction costs, and the fluctuating price of oil on the international market have made the oil industry unstable for Venezuela, and its over reliance on the industry due to previous immense success resulted in the collapse of Venezuela’s economy in 2014 as oil prices went from $100 a barrel to under $30 by 2016. This also led to food insecurity due to nearly 3 quarters of the nation’s food being imported and the government no longer being able to afford these imports like previously. According to the Harvard Kennedy School, Venezuela’s non-oil GDP declined by nearly 19% between 1978 and 2001, which is also a time when the nation was among the richest in Latin America and the world due to oil prices. When we look at Saudi Arabia, aside from having better oil quality and cheaper extraction costs, we see that the nation is attempting to diversity its economy perhaps to avoid the negative consequences of over reliance on a particular sector, and they do this by budgeting to support tourism, a variety of export industries, and small to medium sized enterprises. They’ve also developed large scale theme parks and entertainment venues to boost the entertainment and leisure industry. This is all part of the “Vision 2030” plan unveiled in 2016 to diversify its economy and become a core country in the Arab and Islamic world, a global investment power, and a world hub connecting the three continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa
