Oil and gas information and references are covered. The arrival of Peak Oil and the accompanying energy crisis are included in the information and references.
An oil explorer with four decades of practical experience in high levels of the oil business, Campbell has written what some say is the best book on the coming oil crisis which will occur when world Peak Oil production is reached (within next few years).
Campbell doesn't try to scare the reader but how can you help but get a little nervous when you are told by the author that the total oil reserves of the earth are 1800 billion barrels and, of that, 1600 billion barrels have already been discovered. Not much left to find! As high quality oil (free-flowing) is used up, we will have to turn to the more expensive-to-produce deposits (tar sands and shale). Costs of fuel will skyrocket.
2. The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World by Paul Roberts.
Roberts is not much more optimistic than Mr. Campbell, above. They both say the end of cheap oil is in sight, and the difficult-to-produce oil and alternate energy sources are going to be extremely expensive to recover/produce. Some progress, but not enough, has been made in getting the substitutes for cheap oil up and running. A grim picture, hardly discussed in the Election of 2004.
Mr. Robert's critics point out that he is not a working expert in the energy field but is only a gifted writer who covers many fields depending where the public interest is at the moment. However, if he wakes up the people to the crisis they face, no one will condemn him for not being a bewhiskered "expert."
Mr. Deffeyes, a veteran of the oil industry, has a similar message as the two books discussed above: the world is running out of oil and we had better get something going in the alternative energy area. Many of the Amazon book reviewers criticized his writing skills but most agreed that Deffeyes was on target with his warnings on the oil situation.
However, one Amazon critic, also a veteran of the oil patch, poo pooed Deffeyes' dire warnings about Peak Oil. While the Amazon critic agreed that there would be no Gawars (the Saudi Arabian mother-of-all oil deposit) discovered, he thought the revamping of political systems in the oil-rich countries, allowing more free enterprise in producing oil, coupled with increased use of the new oil field techniques - 3 D seismology, induced fracturing, and horizontal drilling techniques - could win out the day.
Down here in Louisiana, the new techniques such as 3 D seismology are uncovering a significant amount of "left behind" oil, however, I don't agree with the Amazon critic that use of these techniques will totally solve the problem. Louisiana's oil production and other oil-producing states' oil productions have not risen as new techniques have been introduced but, instead, production has fallen (though at a slower rate). The big oil deposits that are needed to overcome Peak Oil just aren't there.
And why even talk about revamping other countries political systems - we are having enough trouble doing that in Iraq.
I believe Kenneth Deffeyes and Paul Roberts and C. J. Campbell are correct to be informing the general population about the Peak Oil problem. We won't accomplish anything if we keep our heads buried in the sand. Neat new technologies to improve oil recovery are great but only delay the inevitable.
And it looks like taking over oil rich countries, such a Iraq, is not going to be as easy as some in the Bush administration thought (remember we would be greeted with flowers and candy!) Maybe, now, they will roll up their sleeves and get busy working up a legitimate energy plan. Maybe.......
Great oil information but still another gloom and doom prediction about Peak Oil from a professional investment adviser.
All hell is going to break loose, economically, as Peak Oil arrives and the Leebs provide some advise on how to invest to reduce the damage to your financial health. Leeb is not an engineer or geologist and his non-technical approach is welcome.
Stepan Leeb came into some very harsh (but intelligent) criticism from a reader reviewer on Amazon. The reviewer referred to Leeb's prognostication about energy as being another dime-a-dozen doomsday scenario. He said experts have been predicting that oil will "soon" run out for decades and, yet, it never happens. The reader reviewer points out that we keep finding more oil and that doesn't count the 500 year oil supply contained in oil sands (tar sands I presume) that has not been tapped yet because it is not economically feasible to do so yet. (The processes for extracting oil from the tar sands are now economically feasible and production is increasing at a fast rate.)
Also, in a very optimistic note, the referenced reviewer said we (the human race) have a tremendous ability to adapt, and deal with problems such as the oil shortage.
Although the above reviewer made me feel a tiny bit better (especially with the human adaptability statement) about the problem, I still think the worse thing we could do is ignore the Peak Oil situation and pretend that everything is OK. How could everything be OK when the price of oil is flirting with $95 per barrel and the price of natural gas is over $7 per 1000/cu ft and the prices of both commodities are still climbing?
Also, the reviewer's comment about oil sands bothers me a little. We have mined only relatively small amounts of the oil sands so far and we don't know how bad the environmental problems will be. (Note: We have to mine tar sands - as we have to develop LNG) - otherwise the situation is virtually hopeless.
Of all the "Peak Oil" books, this is undoubtedly the most pessimistic. It is all over according to Mr. Heinberg, or at least ending very soon......the petroleum or oil era, that is. Even if we take strong action, we can't avoid it. We can mitigate its effects somewhat but we can't duck it entirely. Bad times - real bad times - are ahead. The end of western civilization and of capitalism, as we know it, is at hand.
According to Mr. Heinberg, when the post-oil era is firmly in place, only about 10% of the present population of the earth will be able to survive on the oil-barren earth.
I am a little less pessimistic than Mr. Heinberg. We have to try! Maybe something will happen! And don't forget the optimism of the Amazon reviewer of the previous book, above. I must have a little bit of that optimism in me. Most Americans do!
This book generally paints the same scenario painted by the five books discussed above with one exception. Mr. Goodstein is of the opinion that once we leave the era of oil and get the adjustment behind us, we will, at least, have an environmentally clean planet to live on.
So there is a silver lining (sort of) on the Peak Oil problem after all!
Still another "Peak Oil" books and, according to the Amazon reviewer's, the best of the lot.
I have not read the book yet, but, after reading the many Amazon reviewers, I will do so as soon as possible. Please read the reviews even if you don't read the book - the reviews tell the tale about Peak Oil very well.
The general opinion of the reviewers was that the author, James Kunstler is very cynical ("apocalyptic cynicism" is the term used by one viewer) but Kunstler is right in his analysis of the coming problems of Peak Oil. However, they criticize him for not having any solutions.
But is that a good criticism of the book. Are there any solutions?
There are some neat observations in the reviews:
A. Kunstler ridicules Vice-President Cheney for saying, "the American way of life is not negotiable." Kunstler thinks our way of life is going to change drastically.
B. Kunstler states, "No combination of alternative energy sources can replace the efficiency and portability of oil and natural gas." That is bad news for those seeking alternative energy sources that actually work.
C. Kunstler points out why several of the alternative energy sources - hydrogen cars and ethanol - won't work. (I had been edging toward that conclusion, myself. However, several other alternative energy sources - LNG, wind energy, and Hybrid cars - do look promising! Even the outlook for solar energy is improving.)
D. One reviewer compares Kunstler to the biblical prophet, Jeremiah who prophesied Judah would be destroyed by the Babylonians. Judah ignored the prophesy and was in a state of complete self-denial (much as the US is at present), and so they were conquered.
E. Kunstler points out that we have to get effective policies and programs going before we run out of the oil, completely, or we won't be able to make the transition to the post-oil era.
F. One reviewer pointed out that the US official response to the Peak Oil problem is to take control of the remaining oil rather than do something about the basic problem. (My comment: Obviously, the reason for Iraq!)
A fine book that is not receiving proper attention from main-stream America.
Ms. Shah tells the story of oil throughout history and how oil has, from the beginning, sparked violence.
One Amazon reviewer took strong exception to much of the book, particular the section where the book states that the US invasion of Iraq was originally going to be called "Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) but was quickly renamed Operation Iraqi Freedom so that its 'oily ramifications' wouldn't be discerned."
1. Oil Supply & Oil Shortages. The world's great oil fields are running low and we aren't finding enough new oil to replace the oil we produce.
2. Natural Gas Supply & Use. The clean fuel. We are in better shape with natural gas than with oil but, eventually, it will also become scarce.
3. Oil Company Stocks. Someone is going to make money off the energy crisis. It might as well be you!
4. Oil Crisis, Peak Oil & Energy Crisis. Peak Oil is just around the corner! An energy crisis is developing! Get ready to rumble!
5. Bakken Formation Oil Field. The hottest oil play in the world today right in dull North Dakota. Experts say there may be 500 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Formation.
Last Updated: 05/11/08
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