Product Description

The sensational human story of the hunt for oil, and the politics, power and personalities involved. Over the last 20 years, oil prices have soared from $7 a barrel to $147 and down to $37. Amid economic boom and bust, speculators, traders, politicians and monarchs have plotted to earn fortunes from oil, and prayed for salvation from unpredictable natural and man-made disasters. Behind the headlines are the crushing rivalries between men and women exploring for oil five miles beneath the sea, battling for control of the world's biggest corporations and gambling billions of dollars twenty-four hours every day on oil prices. Success or failure for all those extraordinary personalities depends on squeezing their rivals and squeezing the crude out of the rocks. Overweening vanity and greed absorb those titans whose ambitions are forging the world's quest for oil. Exploiting unprecedented close access to the lives of irrepressible traders in New York, oil-oligarchs in Moscow, corporate chieftains in Dallas and London, and wily politicians floating in jets across the globe, Tom Bower presents the untold story of the most important quandary of our times: why, if there is plentiful oil in the earth, does mankind face a dire shortage threatening our lives? Self-interest is propelling the squeeze and there seems to be no salvation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4048 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Review
`Bower gets the big strategic judgements, most admirably in his scepticism about the fashionable theory known as `peak oil'. SUNDAY TIMES --SUNDAY TIMES

`..there's nobody more diligent than Bower' DOMINIC LAWSON, THE SUNDAY TIMES
--THE SUNDAY TIMES

"a shattering critique which will leave ...readers angry" The Independent --The Independent

"a roller-coaster account of the past 30 years of the oil industry.... he has a real sense of the drama of deal-making and deal-breaking....Bower is particularly entertaining on the vast Russian oil industry" Daily Telegraph
--Daily Telegraph

"reveals brilliantly the drama behind the scenes...Bower has produced a work which will be popular and which gets the broad brushstrokes right" --The Spectator

"a gripping and convincing account of the turbulent story of the global oil industry over the past decade...scorchingly topical....THE SQUEEZE provides the fascinating story behind the headlines...a first-rate account of where the oil industry is now and some useful pointers as to where it is going"
--Financial Times

"gripping....However fast-paced, Bower cleverly keeps the action in focus ...(he) builds up a brilliant picture....(and) achieves an impressively seamless continuity. He skilfully depicts accountants squeezing costs, oil majors squeezing rivals, governments squeezing the industry, directors squeezing peers from the boardroom and traders squeezing each other in the market place" --TLS

About the Author
Tom Bower has a distinguished reputation as an investigative historian, broadcaster and journalist and is the author of several ground-breaking books about tycoons. His most recent works are 'Conrad and Lady Black' and 'Gordon Brown'. His books about the Nazis include 'Blood Money' and the definitive biography of Klaus Barbie. Among his other much-debated biographies are those of Mohammed Fayed, Richard Branson and Robert Maxwell.

Customer Reviews

Intriguing but Inaccurate?
Saw a pre release review for this book and bought it as soon as it came out and did read it cover to cover in three days. The book covers the later period of my career in upstream oil and gas business during which I have met some of the book's central characters.

After the first twenty pages I found my increasing annoyance had turned into my correcting numerical errors in the text; where millions and billions are often mixed up or where countries are transposed with field names and so on. A proof read of the book by someone with a technical background could easily have removed these annoying errors.

But those faults did not detract from the flow of the book although I was left wondering if the non numerical statements and conclusions were sometimes as inaccurate as the numerical errors.

Nevertheless this is book is a great read for someone in or not in the world of oil and gas. The book does draw out the significant changes that have and continue to take place as the oil majors see the balance of commercial influence having all but entirely moved to the national oil companies and the trading floors.