Anoil war is aconflict aboutpetroleum resources, or their transportation, consumption, or regulation. The term may also refer generally to any conflict in a region that containsoil reserves or is geographically positioned in a location where an entity has or may wish to developproduction ortransportation infrastructure forpetroleum products. It is also used to refer to any of a number of specific oil wars.
Research by Emily Meierding has characterized oil wars as largely a myth.[1] She argues that proponents of oil wars underestimate the ability to seize and exploit foreignoil fields, and thus exaggerate the value of oil wars. She has examined four cases commonly described as oil wars (Japan'sattack on theDutch East Indies inWorld War II,Iraq'sinvasion ofKuwait, theIran-Iraq War, and theChaco War betweenBolivia andParaguay), finding that control of additional oil resources was not the main cause of aggression in the conflicts.[2]
A 2024 study found that the presence of oil in contested territory can make states less likely to seek to acquire the territory.[3]
The United States and the United Kingdom, who use their veto power to prolong the sanctions, bear special responsibility for the UN action. No-fly zones, periodic military attacks, and threats of regime-change block peaceful outcomes, as do vilification of Saddam Hussein, pro-sanctions propaganda, and other politicization of the crisis. Though real concerns about Iraq's security threat undoubtedly are legitimate, commercial interests, especially control over Iraq's oil resources, appear to be a driving force behind much of the policy making.
