1. The Lack and Abundance of Resources in Southwest Asia
Water and Oil

2. Warm-Up How is oil used? List as many ways that you can think of?
Did you get:
Transportation Fuels (Gasoline, Diesel, Jet Fuel)
Asphalt
Military and defense
Fertilizer
Heating
Feedstock
Petrochemicals
Plastics
Polyurethanes
Solvents
Electrical generation

4. Irrigation
The use of water for crops

5. Aquifers
Underground lakes

6. Fossil Water Ancient wells
The failed dream of Harad and Al Khunn is a testament of fossil water`s limited use

7. Drip Irrigation
Using exactly that amount of water each plant needs

8. Desalination
Removing salt from sea water to make it safe for drinking

9. Hydroelectric power
Damming up a river and using the current to create electricity

10. Much of region is dry and desert or semi-desert

11. Euphrates River Longest river in the region
Begins in Turkey, and flows through Syria and Iraq

12. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Both the Euphrates and Tigris provide drinking water and farming
The countries that share these rivers have problems over sharing it
Shatt al-Arab, the river that connects the two rivers, is also the boundary between Kuwait and Iran

13. Lack of Water Saudi Arabia has no fresh water
Many types of irrigation can be found in Southwest Asia

14. How to solve the lack of water problem
Farmers bring water to fields from local rivers and underground aquifers (underwater water supplies)
Some farmers tap underwater supplies of fossil water (ancient well water)
Drip Irrigation – used by Israel it drops only the exact amount of water on each plant.
Desalination is also used but it is very expensive and requires lots of energy

15. Quick Review What is Shaat al-Arab? What is drip irrigation?
What is fossil water?
What is desalinization?

16. Water pollution is a growing problem in the region
Over production has forced farmers to use dangerous fertilizers that was into the water supply
Constant planting and fertilizers build up salt level in the soil
Cities grow but they have not figured out to have their own waste management grow with it

17. Access to water is a conflict
Dams have been built to create reservoirs (man made lakes) and for creating hydroelectric power
Once a dam is built, it limits the water down the river

18. Oil and natural Gas
Two of the biggest natural resources in the Middle East are
1. Natural Gas
2. Oil
Discovered in the early 1900s

19. Resources are not distributed equally
Over half of the worlds oil supply has been found in this region
Largest reserves of natural gas are found in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait

20. Resources are not distributed equally
Made some Middle Eastern countries very rich
Countries with low reserves of gas or oil have had a difficult time.

21. Resources OPEC – Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Control over the supply and price of oil
Used embargos as tool (slow down or halt the sale of oil)

22. Review What are the two biggest natural resources in the Middle East?
What does OPEC stand for?
Where is over half of the world’s oil supply found?
Are all of the countries in the Middle East rich?
Name two Middle Eastern countries with high reserves of natural gas.