Crude World

The Violent Twilight of Oil

By: Peter Maass

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman

A stunning and revealing examination of oil's indelible impact on the countries that produce it and the people who possess it.

Every unhappy oil-producing nation is unhappy in its own way, but all are touched by the "resource curse"—the power of oil to exacerbate existing problems and create new ones. In Crude World, Peter Maass presents a vivid portrait of the troubled world oil has created. He takes us to Saudi Arabia, where officials deflect inquiries about the amount of petroleum remaining in the country's largest reservoir; to Equatorial Guinea, where two tennis courts grace an oil-rich dictator's estate but bandages and aspirin are a hospital's only supplies; and to Venezuela, where Hugo Chávez's campaign to redistribute oil wealth creates new economic and political crises.

Maass, a New York Times Magazine writer, also introduces us to Iraqi oilmen trying to rebuild their industry after the invasion of 2003, an American lawyer leading Ecuadorians in an unprecedented lawsuit against Chevron, a Russian oil billionaire imprisoned for his defiance of Vladimir Putin's leadership, and Nigerian villagers whose livelihoods are destroyed by the discovery of oil. Rebels, royalty, middlemen, environmentalists, indigenous activists, CEOs—their stories, deftly and sensitively presented, tell the larger story of oil in our time.

Crude World is a startling and essential account of the consequences of our addiction to oil.

Very interesting read.

lots of detail and anecdotes to keep the reader interested. very powerful book which provokes deep thinking on the subject.

Learning About Oil

This is not a typical "end of oil and the economic apocalypse is coming" type book. Yes, Maass believes that we will see the end of the oil age in our lifetimes, but he sees this development has mostly a good thing. Maass develops a compelling case for the "resource curse" by detailing the oppression, corruption, and stagnation present in oil rich countries. From Nigeria to Saudia Arabia, Russia to Venezuala, countries most blessed with large oil deposits are cursed by high unemployment, structural inequality, violence, and unsustainable development.

American oil companies, U.S. consumers, and the U.S. government has been complicit in all the evils done in the name of petroleum extraction. I wonder if a more balanced and nuanced story could be told about the impact of oil on our world? I wondered how much oil has supported "good" economic growth as well as "bad" consumption. But overall Maass' indictment of oil, oil industries, and oil regimes provides a compelling set of reasons (as if we needed any more reasons) to reduce our dependency on oil through incentives (taxes), conservation, and research.

Crude Corruption

Outstanding work explaining the the cultural norms in the oil industry globally. Surprisingly the corruptive power of crude oil doesn’t only affect the oil executives, but it challenges institutions and governments even if their original intentions were pure.

It is clear that countries with oil wealth must seek to diversify their economies and reduce the dependence on oil revenues which is volatile at best. The lessons learnt from the experiences from Nigeria, the former Soviet Union, Venezuela and Ecuador must be compared with Dubai and Norway.

Crude oil is indeed the oxygen of our modern industrial society and contemporary lifestyle and those who directly interfere with its supply with pay an extremely heavy price.

Very professional and well writen!

The quality of the investigation and point of views from the author were very interesting and informative.

Amazing book

oil world is a very good book.
summarizing it i would say:
If your country is not developed And there are not enough educated People, you Just Still the oil money from your People.
If your country is is developed And Well controled you bribe other countries yofficials to get a contract, do war...

the book is Well developed, and filled with alot of well researched material.
5/5. hard to put down.