THE AGE OF OIL: THE MYTHOLOGY, HISTORY, AND FUTURE OF THE WORLD’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL RESOURCE

Book ID/图书代码： 05410006B07974

English Summary/英文概要： Oil is the most vital resource of our time, and because it is so important, misconceptions about the black gold abound. In this book, Maugeri describes the colourful history of oil and explains 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 the same psychological climax and flawed political decisions. Today we are experiencing a global oil boom that, paradoxically, seems to herald a gloomy era of scarcity combined with growing consumption and overshadowed by the threat from Islamic terrorism in the oil-rich Middle East. The author believes, however, that the pessimists are wrong. He debunks the main myths surrounding oil in our times in the second part of his book. Are we running out of oil? What is the real impact of Islamic radicalism on oil-rich regions? By translating many of the technical concepts of oil productions into terms that the average reader can easily grasp, Maugeri answers these questions, concluding that the wolf is not at the door, and that 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 what our problems are, and who is to blame for them, can doom us to a gloomy oil future.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 石油 – 生活中不可或缺的天然資源，卻有人會誤解它為取之不盡的黑色黃金。作者Leonardo Maugeri，全球第六大石油公司的副總裁，詳細傳達有關石油產業的發展歷程。對世界各國經濟脈動、石油短缺的議題等深入探討。(CL)

Awards/获奖情况：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

About the Author/作者介绍： Leonardo Maugeri is Group Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategies and Planning 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.

Format:HARDCOVER

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：SOLD(非我们代理）

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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