Maugeri Leonardo. The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History, and Future of the World’s Most Controversial Resource

London: Praeger, 2006. — 362 p.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.Note by the AuthorList of Abbreviations
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 Second Oil Shock
The Countershock
A Storm in the Desert: The First Gulf Crisis
The Soviet Implosion and the Troubled Caspian El Dorado
The Collapse of Oil Prices and Industry Megamergers
The First Oil Crisis of the Twenty-first Century
Misperceptions and Problems Ahead
Are We Running Out of Oil?
The Inner Secrets of Oil
The Puzzle of Oil Reserves and 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 Twenty Oil Countries in the World and World Totals (2004)
Consumption Trends of the First Twenty Countries in the World (1980–2004)
Main Features of Some Qualities of Crude Oil
The Largest National Oil Companies
The Largest International Oil Companies
Notes