Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Geography B (1GB0) · Spec 9.3 and 9.4
Consuming energy resources: oil supply and new frontiers
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- Countries that produce a lot of oil often export it, so countries elsewhere rely on them. Events in oil-producing regions can affect countries far away.
- Oil use can grow faster than population when each person uses more oil, because of rising incomes, industry and more vehicles.
- An oil shortage can lead to higher fuel prices, then higher costs for factories and farms, then higher food prices.
- New frontiers include cold environments and unconventional oil, such as oil sands in Alberta, which are reached by surface mining or in-situ drilling.
- Extracting oil brings jobs, income and energy supply, but risks spills and harm to wildlife. Building in permafrost areas is hard because heat from buildings and pipes can melt frozen ground.
Key terms
- Oil exporter
- A country that sells oil to other countries.
- Unconventional oil
- Oil that is harder and costlier to extract, such as oil from oil sands.
- In-situ drilling
- Getting oil from deep deposits by drilling and heating it underground.
- Energy insecurity
- A lack of reliable energy supply.
- Frontier area
- A remote or difficult place newly opened up for oil and gas.
Common mistakes
- Saying energy use grows faster than population because there are more people. If it grows faster, each person is using more.
- Saying extracting oil has no negative effects, or no benefits. Give both.
- Using an average per-person figure as if everyone in the country used the same.
Exam tip
Name the effect and then follow the chain: for example oil supply falls, so fuel prices rise, so costs rise, so jobs and incomes fall. Each link is a mark. Use figures from the booklet to show scale and time (short or long term, local or global).
Free practice questions
7 questions, 12 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Why can events in oil-producing regions affect countries far away?
- Question 2 · Matching[4 marks]
Match each place to the energy fact linked with it.
- Question 3 · Put in order[1 mark]
Put these steps in order to show how an oil supply disruption can lead to higher food prices.
Use the arrows to put these in the right order, first at the top.
- 1Oil supply to importing countries falls
- 2Conflict disrupts oil exports from a producing region
- 3Food prices rise
- 4Fuel prices rise for farms and transport
- Question 4 · Choose more than one[2 marks]
Which TWO are advantages of extracting oil and gas in an area?
Choose 2.
- Question 5 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
Alberta's oil sands are reached by surface ___ or by ___ drilling.
Word bank: in-situ · tidal · mining · fracking
- Question 6 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which statement about oil extraction in the Arctic is most accurate?
- Question 7 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Oil use in China has grown much faster than its population. Which statement best explains this?