Columnist Andrew Sullivan of The Sunday Times wrote about "a looming global superpower fight between China and the US over oil supplies." He further mentioned that "a USA Today poll found 58% of Americans saying that higher petrol [gasoline] prices were eating into their standard of living."

These issues also affect Europe. According to The Wall Street Journal Europe, "Last December the International Energy Agency warned the EU that its dependence on Russian gas is putting its energy security at risk." For instance, nearly half of Germany's natural gas comes from Russia. That figure is closer to 100 percent for some Eastern European nations such as Slovakia.

Economics and politics tend to mesh together in such circumstances. The Wall Street Journal Europe feature article continued: "Moscow regards energy trading as a potential means of putting pressure on dependent states." Also oil and gas supplies may become a far bigger issue as the GNP of China and India grow and many Asian nations increase their standard of living and use of industrial and consumer products that require large amounts of petroleum.

Obtaining sufficient supplies of Middle East oil may yet become a major problem for the West. To understand the importance of these political and economic issues in the Middle East, request our free booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy.