petroleum
Guns, butter and petroleum
I recall a little tale told by a U.S. general to illustrate the importance of oil.
Speaking to a military gathering at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto in January 2006, Lt.-Gen. Thomas Metz described how a man operating a chainsaw with a mere pint of gasoline could cut a great deal of wood in very little time.
By comparison, that same man could eat a large breakfast the next morning and head out to cut wood - using only a hand saw. The general noted that the man could spend the whole day cutting wood with the hand saw and end up with nothing but a tiny fraction of his previous day's efforts with the chainsaw.
The general's message was clear: Oil is what powers the modern world.