The Age of Oil The Mythology, History, and Future of the World's Most Controversial Resource

Subjects:

• Science » Energy/Natural Resources
• Political Science » International Relations
• Business » Business History

Awards:

• CHOICE 2007 Outstanding Academic Title

Reviews:

• Maugeri leverages his insider's knowledge to cast doubt on those who argue that oil reserves are dwindling or that geopolitical concerns have rendered the future of oil production too unreliable to be viable....[r]ecommended for academic libraries....[o]f interest to public libraries.
  —Library Journal September 1, 2006
• Maugeri's authoritative, well-written assessment of the global oil situation relates so well to the current energy predicament that it belongs in most academic and public library collections. With knowledge and experience in developmental strategy for a major international oil company, Maugeri provides a lively, insightful perspective to the history and condition of the world petroleum industry. A specific argument is carried through the book: the world is not running out of oil--there is more than enough oil in the ground. Sequences of oil scarcity and overproduction are shown to be more related to economics and politics than to geology and technology. The 21 specific chapters are encompassed in two principal parts: "A History of an Unreliable Market (and the Bad Policies It Prompted)" and "Misconceptions and Problems Ahead." Appendixes deal with oil consumption and with the production and reserves of specific countries and major oil companies. As a library holding for students of political science, economics, science, and technology, this book should be shared with its antithesis, Kenneth S. Deffeyes's Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak. Well footnoted; extensive bibliography; thorough index. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.
  —Choice January 2007
• In marked contrast to the "panic-crisis" books of late, this work strikes an optimistic chord on the state of world-oil supplies....Unlike the resource pessimists, Maugeri asserts that due to the uncertainty about the level of world reserves, any attempt to quantify supply is futile. Not only does he argue soundly, but he solidifies his position by insights gleaned from long experiencce in the industry. While some of his conclusions may be rejected, his research is not to be disputed.
  —The Engergy Journal 2007
• This informative book is really two in one: a concise treatment of the checkered but fascinating history of the oil industry, from Edwin Drake's first successful well and John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust to post-Saddam Iraq, and an extended nontechnical essay on the myths and misconceptions that have come to surround this important commodity. As senior vice president of Eni, the Italian oil firm, the author is an industry insider, but he draws on a wide range of scholarship and writes persuasively and well.
  —Foreign Affairs September/October 2007
• Are we running low on oil? After a slew of books by pessimists, here is a convincing counterargument by an oil company analyst. Maugeri explains that the industry has been scarred by recurrent periods of over-production. The major players' resulting cautiousness probably makes current estimates of reserves very conservative., if prices continue at today's levels we can expect aggressive investments in exploration and technology to yield enormous extra supply.
  —Harvard Business Review September 2006
• Believing calls for economic independence from oil to be an insupportable "overdramatization and sterile overreaction to oil's cyclical behavior," Maugery seeks to counter the "trap of catastrophism" that he sees as infiltrating the public discussion as deeply as the George W. Bush administration. He sets out to debunk these fears by describing this cyclical behavior through the history of the oil industry and similarly recurrent fears about oil shortages, fears that would produce a damaging American interventionist policy in the Middle East, as he suggests.
  —SciTech Book News September 2006
• Maugeri minimizes the threat of blackmail by oil-producing nations, and he dismisses fears that the world is running out of oil. Environmentalists and those who demand reliance on alternative renewable-energy sources will dispute many of his assertions. Still, this is a valuable effort to explain the issues.
  —Booklist August 2006

• Endorsement From Daniel Yergin
  author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power: Leonardo Maugeri provides a lively and insightful history of oil, the world's most controversial commodity, and an informed perspective on key questions for the future, including the hot topic of whether the world really is "running out." He also brings his wisdom and experience to bear in making sense of the not-so-secret "secret" of oil-- its critical role in the world economy and global politics.
• Endorsement From Fareed Zakaria
  Editor, Newsweek International: Leonardo Maugeri is a contrarian, dissenting from much of the conventional wisdom about the future of oil. He has written a fascinating history of the politics and economics of petroleum, from John D. Rockefeller to the present, that places today's discussions about energy in a broader context. Agree or disagree with his conclusions, Maugeri is always interesting and insightful and this book is essential reading.
• Endorsement From Richard Holbrooke
  Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: Leonardo Maugeri's book is certain to spark a fierce debate, as he fully intends. With skill and wit and deep knowledge, he challenges some widely held perceptions about oil. The result is one of the best books written on oil, a book that will become an essential part of any future discussion on oil.
• Endorsement From Olivier Blanchard
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Everything you wanted to learn about the history of oil, from the days of the Rockefellers to the Iraq war. A clear, well written, and convincing argument runs through the book: Pessimism and doomsday predictions have come and gone, at least three times in the 20th century. Pessimistic predictions have come again; again, they are equally likely to go. I was convinced.
• Endorsement From J. Robinson West
  Chairman, Corporate Advisory Group, PFC Energy: The book makes an important contribution to the debate about the future of energy security. The author reinforces the idea that oil markets are volatile, with a long history of boom and bust cycles in the industry. This is a serious book by a serious author--it demonstrates his hard work, in-depth knowledge and vast experience as a senior for one of the world's premier oil companies.

Table of Contents:

• A History of an Unreliable Market (and the Bad Policies It Prompted)
• John D. Rockefeller's Cursed Legacy
• The Age of Gasoline and Oil Imperialism
• The Carve-up of Arabia's Oil
• The Oil Glut of the 1930s
• Cold War Fears and the U.S.-Arabian Link
• The Iran Tragedy and the Seven Sisters' Cartel
• The Golden Age of Oil and Its Limits
• Oil and the Explosion of Arab Nationalism
• The First Oil Shock
• The Countershock
• A Desert in the Storm: The First Gulf Crisis
• The Soviet Implosion and the Caspian's Troubled Eldorado
• The Collapse of Oil Prices and Industry Megamergers
• The First Oil Crisis of the 21st Century
• Misperceptions and Problems Ahead
• Are We Running Out of Oil?
• The Inner Secrets of Oil
• The Puzzle of Oil Reserves, Production and the Quest for Their Control
• The Problems With Oil Quality, Price, and Consumption Trends
• Flawed Forecasts, Foggy Alternatives to Oil
• Arabs, Islam, and the Myth of Oil Security
• Appendixes
• Proven Reserves, Production, and Reserves Life Index of the First 20 Oil Countries in the World and the World (2004)
• Consumption Trends of the First 20 Countries in the World, 1980-2004
• Main Features of Some Qualities of Crude Oil
• Oil Production of the "Seven Sisters" and Global Oil Production, 1950-1966
• The Largest National Oil Companies
• The Largest International Oil Companies
• Bibliography
• Index