Oil: Anatomy of an Industry

Description

Oil explores the American consumer's love-affair with gasoline and the automobile by examining the role of oil in America - from driving the US economic engine, to consolidating the US's position as unilateral superpower. Author Matt Yeomans investigates oil in its multiple dimensions - from the global oil companies to price regulation to where crude actually comes from - and how our continued dependence on it impacts everything from the environment to the economy, foreign policy, national security and the "War on Terror." Every day, the United States consumes more than 18 million barrels of oil, an amount equivalent to the daily usage of Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union combined. In Oil: Anatomy of an Industry, Matthew Yeomans explores the role of oil in America - from driving the US economic engine, to consolidating the US's position as unilateral superpower - and explains the American consumer's love-affair with gasoline and the automobile. Along the way, Yeomans offers a brief history of gasoline: where oil comes from, how the global crude oil market works, and how the price of oil is regulated and set. Illustrated with maps and graphics, Oil spotlights the companies involved in global oil production, considering their relationships with oil-rich countries and the power they wield in the global marketplace. Finally, the book explains why a continued dependence on oil will soon inhibit America's growth and become a liability to its economy, environment, and national security - not to mention the security of hundreds of millions of others. Full of surprising and revealing facts such as: According to the National Academy of Sciences, the technology exists to boost the average fuel economy of automobiles to 40 miles a gallon (the current average is 24 mpg). That would save about two and a half million barrels a day by 2020 - the same amount the US imports every day from the Persian Gulf. A World Bank economist estimates that countries taking 40 to 50 percent of their income from oil revenue risk a 25 percent likelihood of civil war.

British journalist, Mathew Yeomans, has spent 13 years as a writer and editor for major U.S. publications, including The New York Times, The Village Voice, Fortune, and Wired. He was a senior editor and columnist for The Industry Standard, and has written regularly about oil politics and its impact on global society. He lives in Wales.

"Compelling and provocative. . . . Should be required reading for all who care about the future of this country and the planet as a whole." -The Nation "A volatile mix of history, politics, economics, science, and foreign and military policy." -In These Times "Yeomans does a fine job integrating a wide array of information, from the mechanics of oil production to how the politics of oil helped shape the modern Middle East. . . . Surprisingly nuanced." -Newsday "An informed primer that weaves together commentary, anecdote, and fact." -Wired "A wake-up call. Highly recommended." -The Washington Post