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In March, the United States Geological Survey published the first report since 2000 summarizing its estimates of total undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources for the rest of the world, excluding the U.S.
Using a region's given geology, the study found that about 75 percent of the resources are in four principal regions: South America and Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Arctic provinces of North America.
The devil is in the details, however.
Within these four regions, the estimated deposits are often concentrated in areas that have seen intense political turmoil in the past thirty years.
We put together a list of the top regions highlighted in the USGS report — and the time elapsed since their most recent power struggle.
We're defining that latter element as any attempt at a regime change or government overthrow (think Iran's Green Revolution).
We think it makes for an interesting juxtaposition.
Note: the "conventional" category excludes shale — a separate report on which, according to USGS, is forthcoming.
