Powerful nations have since the last century used oil as a potent instrument of foreign policy, given its wide application in the modern economy. From generating electricity, fuelling automobiles, aircraft and ships to petrochemical products like plastics, oil fingerprints can practically be found all over the global economy. Petroleum has invariably fuelled the modern-day global economy and lifestyles since last century.
Control over the oil flow, therefore, naturally became a tool to advance foreign policy and national interests among top producing countries and those with capital and military might. This practice, known as energy statecraft, has endured for generations, but the wheels could slowly be coming off.
