GEOGRAPHY OF OIL IN TRANSITION: CONSIDERATIONS FROM THE DISCOVERIES OF OIL UNCONVENTIONAL SOURCES IN AMERICA

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/geouerj.2014.12864

This article presents some comments regarding the novel geopolitics of oil due to the recent discovery of huge oil deposits of unconventional sources in regions outside of the shaft Middle East-North Africa, specifically in the U.S. shale, tar sands in Canada and pre-salt in Brazil. This study aims outlining some possible geopolitical scenarios taking into consideration the ingress of these new sources of oil in the world trade. In order to do so, this article is organized into three parts.Initially a brief assessment on the state of the art of current studies on the geopolitics of oil in Brazil will be presented. Then, will be exposed the geographical distribution of the oil industry in the world, the main proven reserves, the most important producing and consuming countries and regions, and major refining activities, with emphasis on the role of large companies. Finally, the possibilities of geographical restructuring and geopolitical reordering of oil in the world are presented, considering these new unconventional energy sources in the US, Canada and Brazil.