Oil Trade: Politics and Prospects (Cambridge Energy and Environment Series) - Hardcover

Hartshorn, J. E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521331439 ISBN 13: 9780521331432

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1993

Synopsis

This book is a descriptive analysis of current influences in the world oil trade. It is concerned with a central unchanged paradox of the industry--its preoccupation with maximizing the production of high-cost rather than low-cost oil. It follows the rise and decline of OPEC monopoly power in the crude market, shows how growth in the international oil business has almost ceased since the late seventies, and explores the reasons behind this slowdown. The author has had twenty-five years of practical consultancy in petroleum economics.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

After a century of exponential growth, the international oil industry suddenly slowed down in the 1970s, faltered during the 1980s, and by 1991 was only just about back to its 1979 level. That break in trend of its dominance in world energy became clear after 'the Opec decade' from 1973 onwards had gained an intoxicating surge of riches for oil-exporting countries. This book is a descriptive analysis of current influences upon the world oil trade. It is concerned with a central unchanged paradox of the industry - its tendency to maximise the production of high-cost rather than low-cost oil. It follows the rise and decay of Opec monopoly power in the crude market, and shows how growth in the international oil business has almost ceased since the late seventies, exploring the reasons behind this slowdown - not all attributable to Opec or to the nationalisation of major oil companies. The author has had more than twenty-five years of practical consultancy in petroleum economics. His book is objective and forward-looking: it is not a history.

Review:

"...for anyone seeking understanding of the forces driving the industry, this is the only book they need to read--or, so far as I know, that attempts the task." Times Literary Supplement

"...a serious and original discussion of the economics of the international petroleum trade, its present, and most particularly, its future....this is a fascinating and rich book, tossing out important and thought-provoking ideas one does not necessarily agree with." Middle East Policy

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0521331439
• ISBN 13: 9780521331432
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 324