Product Description

Crude is the unexpurgated story of oil, from the circumstances of its birth millions of years ago, to the spectacle of its rise as the indispensable ingredient of modern life. In addition to fuelling cars and illuminating cities, crude oil and its by-products fertilise produce, pave roads and make plastic possible. The modern world is drenched in oil; the story of how this came to be is a great human drama of discovery and innovation, risk, the promise of riches and the unconquerable power of greed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30757 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

there's no better time to read the fascinating story of oil
Sonia Shah begins her history of oil with the ancient movements of tectonic plates, and ends it in a world without humans, the oil slowly accumulating again deep underground. It is a story on a grand scale, and 'Crude' gives it the treatment it deserves.

Reading this book, I realised just how unique and amazing oil is, and the lengths people will go to for it. One gallon of oil has as much energy as ten kilos of wood, or a day's work for fifty slaves. It is incredibly dense energy, and when it was first discovered, it was literally just bubbling out of the ground.

Shah captures the magic of oil, the promise of cheap energy, and the consequences of its discovery. She covers the key innovations and the rise of the automobile, maps out how oil came to saturate every aspect of our culture and industry, and ends with the strained market for dwindling oil supplies. It's a story of discovery, of intrigue and of outrageous greed, and although its a history book, it reads like an adventure and a tragedy.

With oil prices higher now than they have ever been, there's no better time to read and understand the fascinating story of oil.

Behind The Barrel
Following OPEC's decision to limit member countries barrel sales to a proportion of their reserves members stated reserves suddenly rocketed, without significant new finds, funny that. Saudi Arabia's oil fields are using extraction methods that indicate a significant decline, something they don't admit to, and Kuwait's opposition party has recently demanded that the government admit to the true level of reserves held by that country.
North Sea oil is in decline as is Mexico's, as are most (all?)countries. The Independent newspaper sums it up well:
"We have allowed oil to become vital to virtually everything we do. Ninety per cent of all our transportation, whether by land, air or sea, is fuelled by oil. Ninety-five per cent of all goods in shops involve the use of oil. Ninety-five per cent of all our food products require oil use. Just to farm a single cow and deliver it to market requires six barrels of oil,... it's time to face the fact that the supplies we so depend on are going to run out."
Crude: The Story of Oil helps us understand the reality of oil, from what's left to the politics behind it, as such it is a very valuable book, everyone who is dependent on oil should read it, I guess that's everyone then. Whether we choose to move away from oil dependency due to climate change, price, or security we need to move away from it, and rapidly.

Crude & not very good
Oil is my favorite subject & so was looking forward to reading this book - I shouldn't have bothered, it is way too shallow and too lefty in it's opinions. I wanted a neutral history with no great opinions either way. I get the feeling Miss Shah has green motives at heart & the history is second to her real motives, criticizing the oil industry.

Kirk Dickenson