The myth of the oil crisis : overcoming the challenges of depletion, geopolitics, and global warming / Robin M. Mills.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-281) and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. Opposing viewpoints -- The geologists -- Inevitability of decline -- Pessimism on the resource base -- The consequences -- The economists -- Elasticity of supply and demand -- Optimism on the resource base -- The militarists -- The environmentalists -- The neo-Luddites -- 3. Bust and boom : how we got to where we are today -- The doldrums, 1986-1998 -- The hurricane, 1999-2007 -- Demand bites back -- The dog that didn't bark -- 4. Half-full or half-empty? Conventional oil supply -- Peak oil -- Hubbert's curve -- The reserves conundrum -- Exploration potential -- Surveys of global exploration potential -- Reserves growth -- Enhanced oil recovery -- The fallacy of "easy oil" -- Sources of new supply -- Summary.

5. Dead dinosaurs? : the major oil nations -- Saudi Arabia -- Saudi reserves -- Technology and technical problems -- Exploration potential -- Decline in Saudi production? -- Could Saudi Arabia be replaced? -- Iran -- Iraq -- United Arab Emirates -- Kuwait -- Qatar -- Other Middle East -- Libya -- Algeria -- Sudan -- Nigeria -- Angola -- Russia -- Kazakhstan -- Azerbaijan -- Venezuela -- Mexico -- Brazil -- United States -- Canada -- Norway -- United Kingdom -- China -- India -- New frontiers -- West and Southern Africa -- East Africa -- Interior Africa -- South and Southeast Asia and Australasia -- Central and South America -- Arctic -- Antarctic -- 6. Scraping the barrel? Unconventional oil supply -- Natural gas liquids -- Tight oil -- Heavy and extra-heavy oil -- Oil sands -- Oil shale -- Gas to liquids -- Coal and biomass to liquids -- Biofuels -- Kinetics : the speed of commercialization -- 7. Gas giants -- The peak gas theory -- Global gas resources -- Unconventional gas -- The role of gas.

8. A dangerous neighborhood? Supply, investment, and geopolitics -- Barriers to investment -- Resource nationalism and the "oil curse" -- Energy security -- Energy security as interdependence -- 9. Keeping the lights on: energy demand -- Worthy substitutes : other energy sources -- Resource constraints on alternative fuels -- Energy intensity of the energy system -- Other consequences of alternative energies -- Personal virtue? Efficiency -- Oiling the wheels : transport fuel demand -- Synthesis -- 10. Green oil : saving the environment -- Local impacts -- Global climate change -- Carbon sequestration -- Carbon intensity of unconventional oil -- Year zero : the neo-Luddites -- 11. Conclusion.

"With oil well over $100 a barrel, drivers wince whenever they pull into the gas station and businesses watch their bottom lines shrink. "Watch out," say doomsayers, "it will only get worse as oil dries up." It's a plausible argument, especially considering the rate at which countries like China and India are now sucking up oil. Even more troubling, the world's largest oil fields sit in geopolitical hotspots like Iran and Iraq. Some believe their nations need to secure remaining supplies using military force, while others consider dwindling supplies a blessing that will help solve the problem of global warming. But wait - is it really the "end of oil"? Absolutely not, says geologist, economist, and industry insider Robin Mills." "Written in a lively style but with scientific rigor. The Myth of the Oil Crisis is a uniquely useful resource for business leaders, policymakers, petroleum industry professionals, environmentalists, and anyone else who consumes oil. Best of all, it offers an abundance of one commodity now in short supply hope for the future."--Jacket.