Oil in the Twenty-First Century: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities

Oil is hitting the headlines once again. The big increases in oil prices over the past two years are upsetting consumers and puzzling producers. The reasons are difficult to understand, since few people are familiar with the complex workings of the price regime for oil in international trade. It is said that sluggish investment is a major cause, but what are the reasons for inadequate investment in oil producing and refining plants during the last 20 years? Does oil have a future? We are told that oil production will soon peak because the rate of production is higher than replacement rates. Climate change problems are casting a shadow over the future of fossil fuels. There may, however, be a solution to the nefarious CO2 emissions in, for instance, technologies that sequestrate carbon. Oil's stronghold is the transport sector: cars, trucks, railway engines, planes, ships. The demand for oil would suffer a fatal blow if technical innovations in car engines make it possible to use an alternative fuel to petrol or diesel. New energy sources - wind, solar, tide, waves, geo-thermal - are both renewable and environment-friendly. Do they represent a threat to the future of oil? An international team of experts addresses these highly topical questions in this comprehensive volume. Contributors to this volume - Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, President of the OPEC Conference, Minister of Energy of the State of Kuwait, and Chairman, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Robert Mabro, Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford Adnan Shihab-Eldin, Director of Research, OPEC Secretariat and Acting Secretary General, 2005 Bassam Fattouh, Reader in Finance and Management, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London Bassam Fattouh and Robert Mabro Thomas S. Ahlbrandt, World Energy Project Chief, U. S. Geological Survey Andrew Gould, Chairman & CEO, Schlumberger Ltd Benito Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, and Managing Director of Oxford Climate Policy Karl S. Lackner, Ewing-Worzel Professor of Geophysics, Columbia University, New York Olivier Apert, President of Institute FranCcais du Petrole, and Philippe Pinchon, Director, Moteur Energie, Institute FranCcais du Petrole Robert Mabro