The Antichrist & Oil During the End Times

Many people believe that the Antichrist will have control over many Middle Eastern countries in the future. I do not believe the consequences of this potential future development are 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.

In this article, I want to show how much of the world’s oil 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 more powerful the Antichrist could become if he also controlled these areas.

The BP Statistical Review of World Energy, is one of the energy industry’s most anticipated reports each year. The BP Statistical Review provides a lot of information about what types of energy sources each country in the world produces and consumes. The 2017 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 production would the Antichrist 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 production they account for:

Middle East Oil Producers

“BP Statistical Review of World Energy”. London: BP 2020. https://on.bp.com/332rrQv

CountryBarrels Per Day (Thousands)% of World Production
Iran3,5353.71%
Iraq4,7795.02%
Kuwait2,9963.15%
Oman9711.02%
Qatar1,8831.98%
Saudi Arabia11,83212.43%
Syria240.03%
United Arab Emirates3,9984.20%
Yemen980.10%
Other Middle East2140.22%
Total Middle East30,32931.86%

If the Antichrist managed to take control of every notable oil producer in the Middle East he would possess nearly 32% of the world’s daily production. Controlling nearly 32% of the world’s oil supply would give Antichrist tremendous economic and political clout. I will 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 production they account for:

Europe & Russia Oil Producers

“BP Statistical Review of World Energy”. London: BP 2020. https://on.bp.com/332rrQv

CountryBarrels Per Day (in Thousands)% of World Production
Denmark1030.11%
Italy890.09%
Norway1,7311.82%
Romania750.08%
United Kingdom1,1181.17%
Other Europe2980.31%
Russia Federation11,54012.12%
Total Europe & Russia14,85115.60%

The control of Russia, Europe, and the Middle East’s oil would give Antichrist control of nearly 50% of the world’s daily production. To provide some perspective on how significant controlling nearly 50% of the world’s daily production is, OPEC’s 13 member countries produce approximately 37% of the world’s daily 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 production they account for:

OPEC Oil Production

“BP Statistical Review of World Energy”. London: BP 2020. https://on.bp.com/332rrQv

CountryBarrels Per Day (in Thousands)% of World Production
Algeria1,4861.56%
Angola1,4171.49%
Congo3390.36%
Equatorial Guinea1800.19%
Gabon2180.23%
Iran3,5353.71%
Iraq4,7795.02%
Kuwait2,9963.15%
Libya1,2271.29%
Nigeria2,1092.22%
Saudi Arabia11,83212.43%
United Arab Emirates3,9984.20%
Venezuela9180.96%
Total35,03436.80%

The Antichrist could potentially have greater control of the global oil market than OPEC’s 13 members combined.

The Antichrist would have tremendous economic and political clout with control over a significant percentage of world’s oil (35% or more). 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.

  • 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 believe 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/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:

“(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. (13) And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, (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.” (Revelation 13:12-14)

All of these tactics and more will enable the Antichrist to eventually have a kingdom that dominates the earth (Daniel 7:23). If you would like to learn more about how to identify the Antichrist, click this link for my article on the topic: Identifying the Antichrist: Some Characteristics to Look For

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Wayne Croley
Wayne Croley

Hi! I’ve studied and written about Bible prophecy since I was a teenager. My goal is to make Bible prophecy easy for you to understand while avoiding the sensationalism seen elsewhere. I am the author of several end time books, including Prophecy Proof Insights on the End Times, a comprehensive book about the end times. I hold an M.B.A. and degrees in Managerial Economics and Political Science.

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  1. Good write up. In some sense, at least, the US already has control over the world’s oil supply. The is due to oil being denominated and exchanged on the open market in petro-dollars. Petro-dollars are hugely important to America’s foreign policy and its ability to exercise power and influence all over the world. I believe the west’s ability to sanction flows out of this, for example. It has historically not gone well for countries that have tried to move away from petro-dollars, with Libya and Venezuela being two such examples from recent history.

    It seems to me that it might not be the case, in other words, that the Antichrist would need to physically control the world’s oil supply – particularly if the Antichrist arose from America.

  2. Thanks Connie,I believe that Bob, Bill, and Boy are the same individual. If one becomes too precise with how terms are used then it could turn a lot of people off. For instance, I often dislike reading scholarly articles because they are not written so that the normal person can understand them.

  3. Dear Bob, Boy, Bill,

    Wayne uses the word “antichrist” in a connotative sense, which the average Christian (and even those who aren’t Christians) understands. It means “against Christ”, of which most certainly the beast is THE ultimate antichrist. Most everyone comprehends his intentions and meaning behind the use of the word. Perhaps you are confused on this issue as it seems from your multiple monikers posting this same comment over and over that you are possibly bewildered as to whom you are yourself.

    The words “rapture” and “Bible” are not in the Bible either, but most of us know to what is being referred when they are used, don’t we? There is an entire vocabulary of words that we use in a connotative rather than denotative sense. Most people are able to comprehend the difference when the words are used one way or the other. At least most of us do. Granted, there are people who can only work within denotative vocabularies. For instance, there are those who think that they are presenting an intelligent argument against the rapture when they say the word “rapture” is not in the Bible, therefore there is no such thing. It simply shows their ignorance of the Scriptures and this event, how the English language has evolved from its roots in other languages, and how we have taken some words and have adapted and applied them to certain things in a connotative sense.

    I understand your inability to work within a connotative sense, as I have a son who has a form of autism. He gets very annoyed over connotative language, as it is not “precise”. He can be a real pain at times. I told him to get over it and learn how to understand what the intentions of our meanings are, as most people speak in this manner. Few of us are so precise except when presenting a science paper.

  4. I fully understand the meaning of the term (in fact I have written an article on the nuances of the term). However, I use the term “Antichrist” because I try to relate to people. For instance, I don’t really care to use the term “tribulation” to describe the future seven year period (I rather use the term “seventieth week of Daniel”) but I often resort to using the term because people are so used to hearing the term “tribulation”. Similarly, I use the term “Antichrist” instead of the term “beast from the abyss” because people are so used to seeing the term “Antichrist”.

  5. We need to clarify a simple term used commonly. It is the
    concept of “the antichrist” — a term which NOT in the
    bible. Do a search yourself.

    We have:
    “antichrist” and “antichrists” I John 2:18
    “antichrist” I John 2:22
    “the spirit of antichrist” I John 4:3
    “an antichrist” 2 John 1:7

    The word “antichrist” appears to be an adjective, a spirit, one of many but does not EVER refer to a single individual to arise in the end times.

    The Beast, on the other hand, appears to be a single individual, but
    still there are mention of many different beasts in prophetic scriptures.

    So when speaking of the individuals to appear in the end times, we have the Beast and the False Prophet who are mentioned together. Never do the scriptures refer to “the antichrist” with either of
    these entities. These points are very clear from scripture and we
    should have all realized this by now. Let me suggest that using the
    term “the antichrist” simply confuses people and distracts
    from what the scriptures say about prophecy.

    Let’s not show ignorance regarding this any longer. The beast is the beast. The False Prophet is the false prophet. But there are many antichrists.

  6. I think it’s good to develop alternative energy sources, but I don’t think it’s likely that alternative energy sources that vehicle transportation can utilize will be developed fast enough to stave off a situation like I described in the article. I would glad to be wrong about this and I hope those who are working on alternative energy sources are successful. 

  7. The answer then is to develop other sources of energy, Solar wind, etc.
    Then we can prevent the AC from gaining one source of his control. If we chose to continue with the status quo as the Oil companies would have us do, does this mean that the Oil companies are in league with the AC?

  8. Yes, I agree. The Mark system will give him a tremendous amount of power.  It’s seems the Antichrist will have a monopoly in just about everything.

  9. I agree with what you say, but I think that what will really give the antichrist his power will be the restructering of the economy.  When you need to use the mark of the beast to buy or sell, that will give him a huge amount of power and control.  Once all nations agree to whatever this restructering is, and agree to use the mark (I think that since we already have a world wide economy, nations would not be able to opt out of this system), the antichrist will have all the control that he needs.