Name______________________________
“Over a Barrel” Article Questions
Answer the questions using the article “Over a Barrel” by Laurence M. Paul.
1. What does OPEC stand for?
What were the founding countries?
What are the current members?
2. What FIRST created the huge demand for oil?
3. How did the strong economy in the U.S. cause the demand for oil to rise?
4. What were the Seven Sisters?
How did they get oil cheaply from the Middle East?
5. What caused the two oil shocks in the 1970s in the U.S.?
6. How did the rising gas prices affect the economy of Detroit, which was based on building American cars?
7. Why did the speed limit become 55mph?
8. How did the wealth of oil lead to Al Qaeda?
9. How does the U.S. support terrorism indirectly?
10. What is good AND bad about finding oil in the Arctic and Gulf of Mexico?
11. What is happening in the government of many of the countries in OPEC? (This is not entirely in the article, but we
have talked about it several times!)
12. What amount of the world’s oil do the nations in OPEC control?
13. What would be the best thing to help the U.S. economy?
14. Which country is the largest CONSUMER of oil?
How much more oil do they CONSUME compared to how much they PRODUCE?
Since gas prices have gone up, how has your family reacted to the increase? For instance, have your parents driven
more/less/same? Did you drive somewhere you normally would have flown to? Did you stay home instead of going on a
vacation?