eli5 Why do North American oil wells have shorter lifecycles than wells in the middle east?

Question

eli5 Why do North American oil wells have shorter lifecycles than wells in the middle east?

In: 1

Answer 1

North America started oil production in the early 1900s. The biggest oil reservoirs are the first to be extracted. So the remaining oil reservoirs now are small and hard to reach. The oil production in the middle east started a bit in 1930 but did not really got going until the 50s and 60s. And then in 1970 the OPEC was created which artificially limits the oil production to keep the oil price up. The US is not part of OPEC and is therefore not limiting the production.