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WHY DO WE NEED OIL AND GAS?

Oil and natural gas are an important part of your^A) everyday life. Not only do they give us mobility, they heat and cool our homes and provide electricity. Millions of products are made from oil and gas, including plastics, life-saving medications, clothing, cosmetics, and many other items you may use daily.

In the United States, 97% of the energy that drives the transportation sector (cars, buses, subways, railroads, airplanes, etc.) comes from fuels made from oil. Auto manufacturers are developing cars to run on alternate fuels such as electricity, hydrogen and ethanol. However, the electric batteries need to be charged and the fuel to generate the electricity could be oil or gas. The hydrogen needed for fuel cells may be generated from natural gas or petroleum-based products. Even as alternative fuels are developed, oil will be crucially important to assuring that people can get where they^B) need to be and want to go for the foreseeable future. Unless there is an increase in the penetration of new technologies, alternative fuels are not expected to become competitive with oil for transportation before 2025.

World population is currently around 6 billion people, but is expected to grow to approximately 7.6 billion by 2020. That^C) will mean a huge increase in the demand for transportation fuels, electricity, and many other consumer products made from oil and natural gas.

The world economy runs on these fuels^D). They improve your quality of life by providing you with transportation, warmth, light, and many everyday products. They enable you^E) to get where you need to go, they supply products you need, and they create jobs. Without them, quality of life would decline and people in developing nations would not be able to improve their standard of living.

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