Oil Panic and the Global Crisis: Predictions and Myths - Hardcover

"He writes so from a position of strength having spent years analysing industry data and I find it difficult not to be swayed by the force of his honest arguments." (Oilholics Synonymous Report, September 2010) It is a book serious students of the world oil market should read, not because Gorelick has all the answers but because his account is well reasoned, well informed, and argued honestly, with respect for responsible opposing viewpoints." (David Lloyd Greene, Science, May 2010) "The book is a refreshing and methodical expose' of the most common myths about oil that many of us hold as truths. Gorelick weaves an intriguing story from what might have been a dreadfully boring, yet impressive collection of data and observations. It was a pleasure to read and learn from this book, which I highly recommend to experts and non-experts alike, particularly our leaders in government." (Kenneth E. Peters, Geofluids, 2010) "In all my years as a journalist who has written on oil and follows the crude markets closely, I feel this book is the most engaging, detailed and well written one that I have come across in its genre. I am happy to recommend it to commodities professionals, economists, students and just about anyone interested in reading up on the oil depletion debate." (Gaurav Sharma, Infrastructure Journal 2010) "Professor Gorelick's book is a valuable contribution to the debate about peak oil and could profitably be read by anybody requiring a pathway through the economic and political smokescreens which have grown up around the topic." (Geo Expro, September 2010)

Is the world running out of oil? This book analyzes predictions of global oil depletion in the context of science, history, and economics. There has been continuing alarm about the imminent exhaustion of earth's non-renewable resources. Yet, the world has never run out of any significant, globally traded, non-renewable resource. Is the world finally facing a non-renewable resource depletion catastrophe, or is the current concern just another one of a succession of panics? In this book, key assumptions and underlying arguments in the global oil-depletion debate are first summarized and then challenged. Facts about oil supply, production, and consumption are made accessible using concise and simple graphics. Concepts of resource depletion, end-use needs, technology leap-frogging, efficiency, and substitution are used to evaluate historical patterns of exploitation of non-renewable resources and to explore what history suggests about our future dependence on oil. This book is aimed at a broad range of readers,from undergraduate students studying resource science and economics to anyone interested in understanding the context of the controversy over global oil depletion. "It is a book serious students of the world oil market should read, not because Gorelick has all the answers but because his account is well reasoned, well informed, and argued honestly, with respect for responsible opposing viewpoints." Book Review, Science, May 2010