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[electronic beeping]

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[static fizzling]

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[female narrator] 1991.

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The opening shots of the first Gulf War.

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A US-led coalition takes on Iraq...

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punishing Saddam Hussein
for his invasion of Kuwait.

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[shouting]

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It's one of the most intense
air bombardments ever.

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But this isn't just about standing up 
to a bully.

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It's also about controlling one 
of the world's most precious resources...

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oil.

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Oil has brought astronomical wealth
to the Middle East.

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What were once
some of the poorest countries on Earth...

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are now some of the richest.

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Luxury playgrounds for the super wealthy.

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Five countries in the Middle East are
among the 25 wealthiest in the world.

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The most profitable company
on the planet is Saudi Aramco,

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Saudi Arabia's oil operator.

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Its 2018 profits were $111 billion.

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Yet the region's cursed by conflict.

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In the last 60 years alone,
there's been five major wars

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and five uprisings.

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So, for the Middle East,
is oil a blessing...

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or a curse?

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In the last hundred years,

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oil has transformed and shaped our lives.

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Without it,
the modern world simply would not exist.

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Thanks to oil, the planet has shrunk.

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We travel constantly.

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From oil, we get plastics,
which show up in everything,

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from shoes to technology...

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to medicine.

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And when you think of oil,
you think of one place:

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the Middle East.

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There's just a handful of countries
all clustered together

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that supply well over a third
of all the oil the world uses.

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[bubbling]

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The age of oil in the Middle East
begins in the early 1900s,

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when, after seven years
of wandering in the desert,

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determined British geologist
George Bernard Reynolds

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finally discovers oil in Persia,

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modern-day Iran.

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[man] British prospectors found oil
in commercial quantities.

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This was well number one.

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In the following years,

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the oil derricks sprang up
along the foothills of the mountain.

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[narrator] A year later,
the Anglo-Persian Oil Company is launched.

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The timing is excellent.

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World War I proves oil

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makes a far better energy source 
than coal for ships.

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And it powers new tanks and planes.

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[whinnies]

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Demand quickly grows.

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From the start,
oil is measured in barrels.

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The inspiration comes
partly from another valuable liquid,

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whiskey.

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Rather than reinvent the wheel,

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oil producers just take
the 40-gallon whiskey barrel

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and use that for the gooey,
tar-like substance.

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Add two extra gallons for spills,

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and there you have it.

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So what do you get
from one barrel of oil?

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Quite a bit, actually.

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You get enough gas
to drive a car 280 miles...

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[horn honks]

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...and a large truck 40 miles

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and a gallon of tar
for covering roads or roofs...

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-[engine revs]
-[tires squeal]

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...and a quart of motor oil.

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But, wait, there's more.

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You'll have enough petrochemicals left

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to make either 540 toothbrushes

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or 135 rubber balls.

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Even before World War I is over,

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Britain and France secretly agree
to carve up the Middle East between them.

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And it's all about the oil.

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The Arabs are not consulted.

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But they're fractured 
into tribes and kingdoms,

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so powerless to stop events.

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The seeds of a conflict
that will last decades are planted.

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Especially as, in the years between 
the two world wars,

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more oil is discovered in the region.

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But why exactly is the Middle East
blessed with so much oil?

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Way, way back,
at least 100 million years ago,

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what's now desert in the Middle East
was the bed of an inland sea.

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Microscopic organisms sank to the bottom,
getting crushed.

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Over the centuries, they were
pressure-cooked into crude oil.

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Eventually, the waters receded,

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and the dry dunes of the Middle East
emerged,

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leaving those massive deposits of oil
tantalizingly close to the surface.

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Now everyone knows where the oil is
and why it's so valuable.

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So when World War II breaks out,

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the Allies make sure
Hitler never gets his hands on it.

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The huge demand for oil,

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both during the war
and in the years following,

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spurs companies to hunt 
for more black gold

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throughout the Middle East.

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Turns out it's everywhere.

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In 1938, oil is found in Kuwait
and then Saudi Arabia.

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In 1940, it's discovered in Qatar.

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Oil is found in 1958
in the United Arab Emirates.

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In Yemen in 1961.

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And in 1962, Oman finds oil.

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[bubbling]

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[rock 'n' roll music playing]

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[narrator] After World War II,

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America's newly-thriving middle class
wants more convenience and luxury.

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And, unscarred by the war,

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America's factories quickly pivot
from making weapons

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to churning out consumer goods,

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increasing America's thirst for oil.

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[man] A nation's standard of living
surged forward.

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[narrator] But postwar France and Britain
start to lose their global influence...

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and their grip on the oil supply...

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especially
when Middle Eastern nations realize

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just how much wealth
lies beneath their feet.

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[machine guns firing]

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They want to take control
of their own destiny.

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[explosions]

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[man] British influence in Jordan
is under a cloud.

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[horn playing]

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[narrator] Saudi Arabia 
formed its own Kingdom back in 1932.

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In 1946, Syria and Lebanon
free themselves from France.

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That same year, Britain leaves Jordan.

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But America still needs
to keep that oil flowing.

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Time to start cutting deals.

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In 1951, America agrees
to supply Saudi Arabia with arms

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if they'll continue to supply America
with oil.

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The Saudi royal family
is soon rolling in profits

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and weapons.

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And the rest of the oil-soaked nations
in the Middle East sit up and take notice.

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[fanfare playing]

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[man] From Tehran, fanatical supporters

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storming through the streets
in a riotous mob.

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[narrator] In 1953, 
Iran's democratically-elected leader

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kicks out the British after nationalizing 
the country's oil fields

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two years earlier.

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[crowd clamoring]

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There's a power struggle
to remove the monarch, the Shah.

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The UK and the US are furious.

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The Shah's a keen supporter
of their oil interests.

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American and British spies engineer a coup
to return power to the throne.

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[man] Literally overnight,
the whole picture was reversed.

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[shouting]

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[narrator] They reinstate the Shah,

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who had flown to Italy 
to escape the violence.

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[man] The stay of the Shah of Persia
and Queen Soraya in Rome

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was of short duration.

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And, from the turmoil of Tehran,

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news came that the royalist coup
had been successful after all.

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[narrator] But Iran isn't 
the only Middle East nation

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in political turmoil because of oil.

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[man] Now the most dangerous crisis 
of all: revolution in Iraq.

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[narrator] In 1958, another coup.

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This time, in Iraq.

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The army seizes power,
overthrowing the king,

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a long-time supporter of British interests
in the region.

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[man] King Faisal, enthroned in 1953,

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and his cousin, Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah,
regent for 14 years,

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were reported to have been murdered.

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[applauding]

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The young king and his government

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had committed the crime
of friendship with the West.

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[narrator] The coup ends British influence
over oil in Iraq

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and leads to the rise of a man

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who will later become 
America's arch-enemy,

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Saddam Hussein.

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[cameras clicking]

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As the old colonial powers lose influence
and new states emerge,

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the Middle East takes on
a new, independent spirit.

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Oil-producing states
start working together

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to protect the value of their oil fields.

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They want Arabian oil for the Arabs.

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In September 1960,
they form a new and powerful alliance...

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OPEC, the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

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Its public mission
is to stabilize oil prices and supply.

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In truth, it's a price-fixing cartel.

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The first Middle East members
are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

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But their new-found oil profits
aren't being reinvested in their people.

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Instead, Middle East autocrats
use their riches

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00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:10,120
to spend lavishly
on personal palaces, cars,

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and military hardware.

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In one deal,

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the US supplies the Saudis 
with an air defense system

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worth $1.6 billion.

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00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:29,600
But the flow of riches for oil
comes to a crashing halt in 1973

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with the first oil shock.

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The US dollar takes a nosedive,

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00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,280
and OPEC feels the pinch.

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00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,480
All their oil contracts are in dollars.

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Flexing its muscles, OPEC embargoes
oil exports to the United States,

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Western Europe, and Japan,

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drastically cutting back their supply
so prices will rise.

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[man] So here's what you 
can look forward to,

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00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,160
the critical gasoline shortage
by late spring.

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00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,280
Only the end of the embargo
could change that outlook,

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00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,600
and it seems unlikely
the Arabs will relent.

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00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:05,960
[narrator] Oil prices go through the roof.

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00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,520
From just under $3 a barrel
to $11.50 a barrel.

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00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,760
Oil-dependent nations suffer a recession.

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00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,800
[man] The Western industrialized world
was shocked.

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00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:25,600
OPEC's decisions were seen as high-handed,
unreasonable, verging on blackmail.

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00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,720
[narrator] But while OPEC seems to be
a powerful cartel with a unified voice,

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00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,480
its member nations are actually growing
more suspicious of one another.

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00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,400
Are they telling each other the truth
about how much oil they actually produce,

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00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:46,720
about the real size of their oil reserves?

207
00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:51,840
And Iran and Iraq are about to collide.

208
00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:56,960
[crowd chanting]

209
00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,520
Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic revolution
in Iran

210
00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,120
worries Saddam Hussein,

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00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,240
who thinks the revolution may spread
to his country.

212
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,120
The Ayatollah regards Saddam

213
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,440
as nothing more 
than a brutal, greedy tyrant.

214
00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:20,480
In 1980, using planes and missiles
bought by their oil riches,

215
00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:24,680
Iran and Iraq erupt
into a devastating eight-year war.

216
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,280
Despite that, oil prices 
actually plummet...

217
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,760
at the very worst time. Why?

218
00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:39,480
Because the war comes 
just as, globally, oil consumption dips

219
00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:42,400
and other oil states
are producing a lot more.

220
00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:49,200
Meanwhile, after enduring
those gas lines of the '70s,

221
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,960
Western nations wake up
to their addiction to Middle East oil...

222
00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:55,440
and start searching for other sources.

223
00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,240
OPEC, desperate
to keep the cash coming in,

224
00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,240
cuts production to keep oil prices high.

225
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,200
In the early 1980s,
they cut their output by nearly half,

226
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,240
from around 30 million
to 15 million barrels a day.

227
00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:15,920
But oil prices still fall.

228
00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,560
From almost $36 a barrel in 1980...

229
00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,400
to around $14 in 1986,

230
00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,840
because demand is dropping spectacularly.

231
00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:33,400
OPEC's market share is slashed
from 49% in 1976...

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00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,640
to just 28% in 1985.

233
00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:41,560
[soldiers chanting]

234
00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,320
1991, and we're back
to the first Gulf War.

235
00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,560
The conflict starts 
when Saddam Hussein's troops

236
00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:51,440
overrun neighboring Kuwait.

237
00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:54,360
He claims they're cheating 
on their oil quotas

238
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:56,920
and their oil fields
actually belong to him.

239
00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:00,880
The Western allies decide to intervene.

240
00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,800
They can't afford to stand by anymore

241
00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,320
while the Middle East oil producers
rip each other apart.

242
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,240
The West's oil supply must be protected.

243
00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:21,280
The US-led coalition is one 
of the largest invasion forces in history.

244
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,400
As one peace activist noted,

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00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,720
"If Kuwait exported broccoli, 
we wouldn't be there now."

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00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,680
Kuwait is once more
in the hands of Kuwaitis,

247
00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:35,680
in control of their own destiny.

248
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:37,760
We share in their joy.

249
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,560
[narrator] In the aftermath, 
an uneasy truce emerges.

250
00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,240
Saddam remains in power.

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But everything changes
on a bright, blue, autumn morning,

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September the 11th, 2001.

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[indistinct shouting]

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-[man 1] Let's go, guys.
-[man 2] Right here.

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[narrator] The mastermind behind 9/11,
Osama bin Laden,

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and 15 of the 19 hijackers
are all originally from Saudi Arabia.

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But seeing as how that country is
the biggest supplier of oil to the West,

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punishing the Saudis
wouldn't be a smart move.

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00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:18,600
Still, the US is hungry
for an excuse to use its strength.

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In 2003, America's old foe,
Saddam Hussein,

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has become even more unpredictable,

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turning his oil taps on and off
as he likes

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and disrupting oil supplies to the West.

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When America gets sketchy reports

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Saddam might also have
weapons of mass destruction...

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[upbeat instrumental music playing]

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...they decide to act 
once and for all.

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00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,480
The US launches air strikes
and a ground invasion.

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00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,360
In the aftermath, Saddam is found
hiding in a hole in the ground.

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Three years later...

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he's executed.

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[crowd shouting]

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It appears America and her allies

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are now shaping events in the Middle East
to their own liking.

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[helicopter whirring]

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But during wars and boom-and-bust cycles,

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it's the people of the Middle East
who suffer most,

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always facing uncertainty and danger.

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And always in the background,
there is oil.

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Prices keep rising,

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and the Middle East is sitting
on more oil resources than anyone else.

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00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:02,520
In 2012, a barrel of OPEC crude oil
costs over $109 a barrel,

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four times the price in 2003.

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00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:12,920
Ten Middle East countries cover
just 3.4% of the Earth's land surface.

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00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:15,840
Yet concentrated in this small area

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00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,480
is 48% of the world's known oil reserves.

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00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,840
Saudi Arabia has 17.2%.

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00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:25,760
Iran, 9%.

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00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,240
Iraq, 8.5%.

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And Kuwait, 5.9%.

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00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:41,400
So OPEC continues to hold a tight fist
on the future of oil.

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00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:43,360
Or does it?

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00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:47,960
In 2008,
America's fracking revolution kicks in.

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00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:52,640
Fracking,
a nickname for hydraulic fracturing,

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00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:55,880
involves drilling down
into energy-rich shale

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00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,200
and pumping a highly-pressurized mixture 
of water and chemicals into it,

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00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,520
releasing oil and natural gas
from the rock.

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00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:07,880
Thanks in part
to the success of fracking,

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00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,480
the US becomes
the world's biggest single oil producer,

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00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:14,280
out-pacing the nations of the Middle East.

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00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,960
But also, more and more nations
start turning away from oil altogether,

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00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,400
acknowledging the role fossil fuels play
in global climate change.

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00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,480
So where will that leave
the mighty towers of Dubai?

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00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,440
Ever since Middle East oil
was first discovered,

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00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,400
it has brought incredible wealth
to the region

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00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,760
and benefits and blessings
to the wider world.

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00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,720
But it has also brought
the curse of conflict, war,

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00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:45,960
and terrorism.

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00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,760
Now the region's dominance
in oil production is at a crossroads.

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00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:55,240
The modern nations of the Middle East

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00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,480
have never known a world
that does not covet their oil.

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00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:03,120
Perhaps, for everyone's sake,
it's time they did.

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[electronic music playing]