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The Middle East is synonymous for their production of oil. Prices go up, something must be wrong in the Middle East. Prices go down, something must be right in the Middle East. One would think this region of the world was responsible for the production and distribution of oil since the age of the automobile began. The region can be your best friend or your worst enemies depending upon what gas prices are doing this week. The Middle East has not always been the super power of production of crude oil. Before the Second World War, the Middle East produced less than 5% of the world’s output of crude oil. Iran and Iraq led the way in percentages. However, by 1949, after the conclusion of the Second War, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia began to join in on the production and the industry began to rise. This, along with Western Europe desperately needing the oil to help in its post war recovery efforts, caused the proportion of production to rise to 12% in just a few years and then a decade later the percentage grew even greater to 25%. These numbers and an abundance of the natural resource caused the Middle Eastern countries involved to grow somewhat wealthy in a short amount of time. And, by 1970, the countries of this region wer