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Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy | ||
| Author: | Matthew R. Simmons | ||
| ISBN: | 047173876X | ||
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| Book Review | |||
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Twilight in the Desert reveals a Saudi oil and production industry that could soon approach a serious, irreversible decline. In this exhaustively researched book, veteran oil industry analyst Matthew Simmons draws on his three-plus decades of insider experience and more than 200 independently produced reports about Saudi petroleum resources and production operations. He uncovers a story about Saudi Arabia’s troubled oil industry, not to mention its political and societal instability, which differs sharply from the globally accepted Saudi version. It’s a story that is provocative and disturbing, based on undeniable facts, but until now never told in its entirety. Twilight in the Desert answers all readers’ questions about Saudi oil and production industries with keen examination instead of unsubstantiated posturing, and takes its place as one of the most important books of this still-young century. Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy FROM OUR EDITORS In 2004, Houston "energy banker" Matthew R. Simmons made headlines (and the cover of Business Week) when he told an elite audience that the Saudi "miracle" of effortless, cheap oil production was nearing its end. "The entire world," he said, "assumes Saudi Arabia can carry everyone's energy needs on its back cheaply. If this turns out not to work, there is no Plan B." In this provocative book, the industry's most vocal skeptic lays out the reasons for his pessimism. Drawing on personal observation and more than 200 technical papers, he explains Saudi secrecy, policies, and technological ineptness have put the entire world in danger. FROM THE PUBLISHER "Twilight in the Desert looks behind the curtain to reveal a Saudi oil and production industry that could soon approach a serious, irreversible decline. In this exhaustively researched book, veteran oil industry analyst Matthew Simmons draws on his own three-plus decades of insider experience and more than 200 independently produced reports about Saudi petroleum resources and production operations. What he uncovers is a story about Saudi Arabia's troubled oil industry, not to mention its political and societal instability, which differs sharply from the globally accepted Saudi version." While Saudi officials promise to increase production from current levels if necessary, Twilight in the Desert examines the history of other major oil fields to determine that Saudi Arabia is in fact overproducing its primary resources, and couldn't possibly ramp up production for long. It calls for long-overdue transparency on the part of the Saudis and all significant global oil producers, along with urgently needed energy data reform, and a global energy blueprint for how the world will cope once Saudi oil output has peaked.
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