The Antichrist and Oil

A common belief that many people hold, including me, is that the Antichrist will have control over many Middle Eastern countries in the future. I do not believe the consequences of this likely future development is something that should be overlooked by people who hold this belief. I believe it is important to recognize that the Antichrist would gain significant economic and political clout (or influence) if he gains control over many Middle Eastern countries since several of these countries are major producers of crude oil, the lifeblood of today’s global economy.

• Today I want to show how much of the world’s oil currently comes from the Middle East to provide some sense of how much economic and political clout the Antichrist would likely gain if he manages to conquer the oil producing countries of the Middle East. I also want to show how much of the world's oil currently comes from Europe and Russia to provide a sense of how powerful the Antichrist could be if he also controlled these areas too.

The BP Statistical Review of World Energy, one of the energy industry’s most anticipated reports each year, was released to the public earlier this week. The BP Statistical Review provides a lot of information about what types of energy sources each country in the world produces and consumes.

• The BP Statistical Review is the primary source of information that will be utilized in this article.

Most people believe that the Antichrist will control many countries in the Middle East in the future. For sake of the argument, let’s assume that the Antichrist conquers each notable oil-producing country in the region. How much oil of the world’s daily oil production would the Antichrist have under his control if he manages to take over these countries? The following table provides a breakdown of how much oil each notable Middle East oil producing country produces per day on average and how much of the world’s daily oil production they account for:

Middle East Oil Producers
Country	Barrels Per Day (in Thousands)	% of World Production
Iran	4245	5.2%
Iraq	2460	3.1%
Kuwait	2508	3.1%
Oman	865	1.0%
Qatar	1569	1.7%
Saudi Arabia	10007	12.0%
Syria	385	0.5%
United Arab Emirates	2849	3.3%
Yemen	264	0.3%
Other Middle East	38
Total Middle East	25,188	30.3%
“BP Statistical Review of World Energy”. London: BP June 2011. http://bit.ly/lq34xS Pg. 8

 

If the Antichrist managed to take control of every notable oil producer in the Middle East he would possess over 30% of the world's daily oil production. That is a lot of oil…

• Controlling 30% of the world's oil supply would enable give Antichrist tremendous economic and political influence. I discuss the kind of power the Antichrist could possess later in this article.

Many people also believe that the Antichrist will gain control over Europe and perhaps even Russia in the future. For sake of the argument, let’s assume that the Antichrist also gains control of Europe and Russia in the future. The addition of these areas would provide Antichrist with control over an even greater share of global oil production. The following table provides a breakdown of how much oil each notable European/Russian oil producing country produces per day on average and how much of the world’s daily oil production they account for:

Europe & Russia Oil Producers
Country	Barrels Per Day (in Thousands)	% of World Production
Denmark	249	0.3%
Italy	106	0.1%
Norway	2137	2.5%
Romania	89	0.1%
Russian Federation	10270	12.9%
United Kingdom	1339	1.6%
Total Europe & Russia	14191	17.58%
“BP Statistical Review of World Energy”. London: BP June 2011. http://bit.ly/lq34xS Pg. 8

 

The control of Russia, Europe, and the Middle East’s oil would give Antichrist control of nearly 50% of the world’s daily oil production.

• If you add Libya and Sudan into the Antichrist’s empire, as some believe will be a part of his empire, the Antichrist would control more than 50% of the world’s daily oil production.

To provide some perspective on how significant controlling approximately 50% of the world’s daily oil production is, OPEC’s twelve member countries produce approximately 41.4% of the world’s daily oil production. The following table provides a breakdown of how much oil each member country of OPEC produces per day on average and how much of the world’s daily oil production they account for:

OPEC Oil Production
Country	Barrels Per Day (in Thousands)	% of World Production
Iran	4245	5.20%
Kuwait	2508	3.10%
Iraq	2460	3.10%
Saudi Arabia	10007	12.00%
Venezuela	2471	3.20%
Qatar	1569	1.70%
Libya	1659	2.00%
United Arab Emirates	2849	3.30%
Algeria	1809	2.00%
Nigeria	2402	2.90%
Ecuador	495	0.60%
Angola	1851	2.30%
Total	34325	41.40%
“BP Statistical Review of World Energy”. London: BP June 2011.http://bit.ly/lq34xS Pg. 8

The Antichrist could potentially have greater control of the global oil market than OPEC’s 12 members possess when they are united (which has not taken place lately).

The Antichrist would have tremendous economic and political clout with control over a significant percentage of world’s oil (30% or more) since he would have strong control over the lifeblood of global economic activity and the main fuel that many people rely on to live their daily lives. The Antichrist would be able to exercise a lot of economic and political leverage over many countries on Earth, including the United States and China, two of the largest consumers of crude oil and importers of crude oil.

• The United States and China would both be dependent on the Antichrist’s willingness to supply them with oil to keep their respective economies going and to keep life as normal as possible. Due to this dependence, I think it is unlikely that these countries would challenge the Antichrist’s authority initially lest they get their oil imports cutoff and suffer the adverse consequences associated with an oil embargo/oil shock.
• The Antichrist could use this same type of leverage/threat to keep other countries in the world obedient too initially.

 

Although this article focused on an important way Antichrist could obtain significant economic and political clout, it is important to also recognize that the Antichrist is going to also gain a lot of support with the help of lying signs and wonders. For instance, the False Prophet will perform great signs to convince people to worship the Antichrist.

• Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
• Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
• Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

All of these tactics and more will enable the Antichrist to eventually have a kingdom that dominates the earth:

• Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.