Fossil Fuels and the Oil Sands
It seems like almost every week now that another new book on the petroleum industry turns up in the bookstores. There’s no shortage of reading or viewing material on the web or on video either. Below you’ll find a starting list.
Read
Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil, by Peter Maass. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 2009.
A Thousand Barrels a Second, by Peter Tertzakian. McGraw-Hill: Toronto, 2006. (U:)
A very readable and informative history and analysis of the oil and gas industry. Tertzakian argues that peak oil is upon us and the result will be volatile barrel prices forcing a steady decline in our reliance on oil over the next decades. While he doesn’t appear to be an advocate of strong action to address climate change the future he describes and the perspective he provides are refreshingly hopeful for those concerned about the issue. Book Author
“Head in the Sands,” by Shannon Phillips. Albertaviews, Volume 11, Number 10 (December 2008), 36-41. (U:)
Oil on the Brain: Petroleum’s Long, Strange Trip to your Tank, by Lisa Margonelli, Broadway Books: New York, 2007.
Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Doesn’t Seem to Care), by Richard Marsden. Toronto: Knopff Canada, 2007. (U:)
Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, by Andrew Nikiforuk. Greystone Books: Vancouver, 2008. (U:)
Watch
Matt Simmons: Energy Banker
A DVD containing a presentation Matt Simmons made that cast aspersions on Saudi estimates of their national oil reserves along with four interviews. The production values are low and the material is often dense and technical but this can still be an interesting and informative watch, particularly when Simmons is explaining peak oil.
Available: EPL
Surf
Simmons & Company International
Matt Simmons is an energy analyst with some interesting things to say about where the oil & gas industry is headed. Click here to check out his wbesite, or see if one of his videos is available at your public library.
Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands, dir. Peter Mettler, Prod. Greenpeace, 2009.
A great website about the tar sands. Click here.