Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
military establishments, or the economy of tourism and recreation. More generally,
postwar America grew accustomed to cheap fuel, and the population therefore
rapidly decentralized to live in more spacious surroundings. The suburban
revolution is the most obvious geographical result of the entrance of America into
the Oil Age, and the new, widespread mobility of individuals.
To respond to ever-increasing demand, oil exploration continued actively in the
second half of the 20th century. Some oilfields were discovered in the High Plains
(Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota), but the offshore resources of the Gulf of
Mexico in Texas and Louisiana were the most promising discoveries, and they
established Houston as the capital of the US oil industry. In addition, significant
deposits were found in northern Alaska, on the shores of the frozen Beaufort Sea in
the 1960s (Prudhoe Bay). Despite the extreme weather conditions of the polar
environment, the deposits of northern Alaska were exploited from 1973 to 1984, a
time when soaring oil prices resulted in an unprecedented economic boom for
producing regions. However, after peaking at around 3.5 billion barrels in the early
1970s, domestic production began to decline as the deposits of the Middle West and
Appalachian regions diminished, and those of southern California had already
passed their peak production.
Domestic production rapidly became insufficient for demand. By 1973, 25% of
national consumption was imported. From 1973 to 2002, domestic production
dropped by 38%, while overall consumption increased by 20%. Today, 66% of the
domestic consumption of crude oil is supplied by imports. Although still the third
largest producer of oil after Saudi Arabia and Russia, the United States is now
dependent on other countries for its oil supply.
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Texas
Alaska
California
Louisiana
Figure 2.16.
Leading states in domestic oil production in 2004
