ABOUT THE BOOK
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:Description
Oil is the most vital resource of our time. Because it is so important,
misperceptions about the black gold abound. Leonardo Maugeri clears the cobwebs
by describing the colorful history of oil, and explaining the fundamentals of
oil production. He delivers a unique, fascinating, and controversial
perspective on the industry-as only an insider could.
The history of the oil market has been marked, since its inception, by a
succession of booms and busts, each one leading to a similar psychological
climax and flawed political decisions. In a single generation, we`ve
experienced the energy crisis of 1973; the dramatic oil countershock of 1986;
the oil collapse of 1998-99 that gave rise to the idea of oil as just another
commodity; and the sharp price increases following hurricane Katrina`s
devastation in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, we are experiencing a global oil boom
that, paradoxically, seems to herald a gloomy era of scarcity exacerbated by
growing consumption and the threat from Islamic terrorism in the oil-rich
Middle East.
Maugeri argues that the pessimists are wrong. In the second part of his
book, he debunks the main myths surrounding oil in our times, addressing
whether we are indeed running out of oil, and the real impact of Islamic
radicalism on oil-rich regions. By translating many of the technical concepts
of oil productions into terms the average reader can easily grasp, Maugeri
answers our questions. Ultimately, he concludes that the wolf is not at the
door. We are facing neither a problem of oil scarcity, nor an upcoming oil
blackmail by forces hostile to the West. Only bad political decisions driven by
a distorted view of current problems (and who is to blame for them) can doom us
to a gloomy oil future.
ABOUT Author
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:aboutAuthor
LEONARDO MAUGERI is Group Senior Vice President, Strategies and
Development, for the Italian energy company Eni, the sixth-largest publicly
listed oil company in the world. His articles have appeared in Newsweek, Foreign Affairs, Science, and the
Wall Street Journal, among other publications.