ABSTRACTS
 2nd International Workshop on Oil Depletion
Paris, France, May 26-27 2003
Organised by the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas
The workshop was held at the  Institut Francais du Pétrole , Rueil Malmaison, Paris.

  Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Oil Depletion, Paris, France, May 26-27 2003,
Edited by K. Aleklett, C. Campbell and J. Meyer, www.peakoil.net/iwood2003 .

Resource Wars Michael T. Klare The 'National Energy Policy' (NEP) released by the Bush Administration on May 17, 2001 was supposedly intended to meet growing U.S. energy requirements in the first two decades of the 21st Century while also diminishing U.S. dependence on imported oil.  This was to be accomplished, the White House suggested, by increasing production at existing oil fields in the United States and by commencing drilling on the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.  So great was the furor over drilling on ANWR that most people never bothered to examine the NEP closely.  This is unfortunate, as a close reading of the NEP report reveals a very different picture than that suggested by White House pronouncements: far from promoting energy "independence," the NEP assumes that the United States will become MORE, not less dependent on imported petroleum in the years ahead and therefore calls on the Federal Government to take whatever steps are necessary to promote enhanced U.S. access to foreign oil.  In particular, the NEP calls on the U.S. Government to seek additional petroleum from the Persian Gulf area, Russia, the Caspian Sea basin, Mexico, Venezuela, Angola, and Nigeria.  As is implied by the report, the United States must acquire more oil from these countries in order to permit increased oil consumption in the United States at a time of declining domestic production.  Even leaving aside the question of whether these countries will be able to boost their production sufficiently to satisfy steadily rising demand in the United States, this strategy poses enormous challenges for the United States because most of these areas are highly unstable and house anti-American governments and forces.  It is likely, then, that U.S. efforts to acquire more oil from these countries will entail the increased presence of U.S. military forces in the area and periodic U.S. military intervention.  Indeed, the requirement for increased military action in support of U.S. foreign energy policy is one of the driving factors behind the Bush Administration's military buildup.  And while the war in Iraq had several causes, the protection of U.S. oil imports from the Persian Gulf is one of the most important. Back to Proceedings