By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Irresistibly seductive, temptingly inviting, it has haunted and taunted mankind for centuries. Steadily oozing from the earth's belly, it seeps through cracks, through rocks, and on sand surfaces. Early man quickly learned to put it to good use. With only his arms and legs as his first source of energy for millions of years, man learned to make fire only 500BC. In 3200 BC Egyptians invented sails and used the wind to propel their boats. In the early 1900s petroleum fluid was discovered and rapidly became one of the most valuable resources in the world. Some call it "Black Gold," but it may be better described as the lifeblood of our existence, the brush that painted the face of our modern civilization. What is this thing we call oil or petroleum that runs our lives? Is this precious element, so indispensible to man, a curse or a blessing? Can we live with or without it? Watching the British Petroleum disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, one envisions a mighty giant dragon, set loose to devour everything in sight. If contained, it is a friend. Gushing uncontrollably in the waters, it is an awesome monster with forces beyond all man's sophistication and technological knowhow, even beyond Obama's eloquent charm. Fossil fuels, coal, gas, and petroleum provide the world's chief sources of energy. It is unbelievable that in the last 100 years, or even less, we have rapidly used up sources of energy that took millions of years to accumulate. The period of the greatest fossil fuel formation began about 345 million years ago. For about 70 million years huge quantities of dead trees and other plants were buried in the earth. Time, heat, pressure, and the lack of oxygen slowly changed the buried plant material into coal. Petroleum and natural gas were both formed in much the same way from the remains of ocean plants and animals. The process continues to this day, but given the speed by which we are using and abusing petroleum, it may well be the first fuel to give out. Once we have used up all the earth's reserves, we have to resort to coal, which will last 300-400 years. As we view the waste of millions of gallons of precious petroleum in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, we realize how imperative it is for us to develop other sources of energy including nuclear, solar, hydrogen, water, wood, etc, etc. Otherwise our present way of life will vanish forever. Until the late 1700s wood ranked as the most important fuel. When timber became scarce it was replaced by coal. Our increasing appetite for energy, together with the industrial revolution, from the 1700s to the 1800s, the steam engine became the chief source of power. Power-driven machinery replaced manual labour, work became easier, production grew, so did wealth and prosperity. This resulted in the growth of population, therefore more consumption of energy. New sources had to be sought, as they are being sought now. By the 1900s automobiles came into use and the demand for petroleum soared. Petroleum takes us from here to there, in automobiles, airplanes, trucks, trains and ships. Petroleum also generates heat and electricity for our homes, offices and factories. Besides providing more than half of the world's energy it also has many more uses, some quite shocking. Aspirin, balloons, candles, carpets, curtains, cosmetics, and plastic toys, are made with petroleum, so is toothpaste, lipstick, shampoo, deodorants, shaving cream and credit cards. The list continues; panty hose, perfumes, hair colouring, trash bags, hand lotion and heart valves, and more. The oil industry in reality is older than you think. Petroleum is found on every continent, and beneath every ocean. Present day techniques allow us to recover only one third of the oil in most deposits. 5000 years ago, Middle Easterners used oil, which they found seeping through the ground, to waterproof their boats and baskets, in paints, in lighting, and even for medication. The word petroleum comes from two Latin words -- petra meaning rock, and oleum meaning oil. It obviously got its name because it was found seeping out from the earth through cracks in the surface rocks. The demand for oil became far higher than the supply. The solution came with the development of drilling for crude oil. As land oil wells yielded their reserves, demand continued and exploration moved to the oceans. The first oil well structure in open waters was in the Gulf of Mexico, now the scene of the irrepressible catastrophe. As the oil came gushing uncontrollably, two months ago, President Obama was caught napping. Too busy chanting a ballade with one of the famous Beetles Paul McCartney, serenading his lady Michelle; Mr. Obama failed to give the crisis his full attention. Residents of over five States complain that they will never recover from this disaster. Not only has it killed the fishing industry and destroyed the scenery, the wildlife and tourism, it has also depleted the economy of at least one third of the nation. The attack started from both right and left and the cool Mr. Obama, never one to tolerate criticism, told the Louisiana residents, "Even though I am President of the US, my power is not limitless -- I can't suck it up with a straw." This provided little comfort to the dismayed residents of Louisiana, still trying to recover from the devastation of hurricane Katarina 5 years ago. Indeed his powers seem to be, not only limited, but non-existent. As British Petroleum struggles aimlessly to control the gushing wells, Mr. Obama may well have to find a large straw and start sucking, if he is contemplating another term in office. As for the rest of us, this disaster is a sharp reminder that unless we start to conserve, we too may be the victims of an uncontrollable catastrophe. Accuse not nature, she has done her part; Do thou but thine -- Paradise Lost; John Milton (1608 -- 1674)
