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.

About the Author
Robert Mabro, CBE is a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. In 1976 with Aubrey Jones, PC he founded the Oxford Energy Policy Club which meets twice a year; in 1978 he founded and became the first Director of the Oxford Energy Seminar, held every year in Oxford. He then established the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, an educational charity entirely devoted to research on the economics/politics/international relations of oil, gas, and other energies. He has published 13 books and monographs and a very large number of articles in journals, and papers in collective books. He was awarded the 1990 International Association for Energy Economics Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Profession of Energy Economics and to its Literature. In 2001 he was promoted Officier des Palmes Academiques (France).


Book Information
ISBN 9780199207381
Author Robert Mabro
Format Hardback
Page Count 368
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 967g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 166mm * 28mm