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The Coming Oil Crisis
by C. J. Campbell
When the well runs dry.
With gasoline prices seemingly spiraling out of control, books about oil production that may have previously appealed to only a specialized audience now seem noteworthy. One such book is The Coming Oil Crisis by geologist C. J. Campbell.
The author says he had no desire to write a book, but when he came across "compelling evidence" that the world's oil production was about to peak, he felt he had an obligation to warn people.
Talk of an oil crisis first surfaced in the 1970s when American oil production went into decline. The oil-hungry United States now imports more than half of its oil. But the talk didn't last, Campbell says, because the midpoint - the point at which world oil reserves and depletion are equal - had not yet been reached. That point has now been reached, according to the author. Although it is too soon to panic, he makes a convincing argument that it is time for concern. The world won't run out of oil anytime soon, Campbell says, but the price of oil will skyrocket as the resource becomes increasingly scarce.
The story of how Campbell came to this conclusion is told autobiographically in the book, following his career path, which included working as a geologist for companies like Texaco and BP Petroleum around the world. The book also contains interviews with other eminent geologists.
Oil is organic matter - principally algae - that has been converted to oil by chemical reactions. The world's oil endowment, much of which is in the Middle East, has up until now provided a cheap energy source that has fueled the economy of developed countries, but it has also made us dependent on its availability for transport and agriculture. Campbell covers the history of oil in his book, citing evidence that the substance has been known to man since before the time of Christ. Moses' basket of reeds, for instance, was caulked with tar.
Along the way, the author points out a number of interesting statistics, such as the fact that although Americans use twice as much oil as Europeans, their income is only 50% higher, which will make it increasingly difficult for Americans to be able to afford oil as its price escalates. Poorer countries like India will find it even more difficult to purchase the oil it will one day need.
As traditional oil reserves become depleted, Campbell predicts we will be increasingly forced to exploit non-traditional sources of oil, such as oil shale, tar sands, bitumen, heavy oil, infill drilling (closer spacing of wells in an attempt to find missed pockets on land that has already been drilled), oil in hostile environments (the Greenland icecap, for example), a well as small or very small accumulations of oil that have so far been ignored due to a lack of profit potential. We will also be forced to rely more heavily on renewable sources of energy like bio-mass, hydro-electric, wind, wave, tidal, and solar power. Campbell calls on world governments to help manage oil reserves, rather than expecting the "ill-equipped" open market to regulate itself.
Parts of Campbell's book are, necessarily, somewhat technical, but he has made an effort to explain the processes involved in layman terms.
Throughout the book, the author is careful to point out that the coming oil crisis - although it may require many to make lifestyle changes - need not be catastrophic. He takes the optimistic approach that man will persevere and find solutions, and he suggests that many aspects of life might actually improve. For instance, he imagines that motor vehicles will eventually be banned in city centres, allowing for more efficient public transit and room for bicycles and rickshaws.
The Coming Oil Crisis doesn't have to sound a death knell for civilization, Campbell advises. Instead, it can be a wake-up call that inspires us to further develop more-sustainable energy resources while more carefully managing what is left of existing oil reserves. Our quality of life depends on how easily we are able to make that transition but, the author warns, "We don't have long to prepare."
Title: The Coming Oil Crisis
Author: C. J. Campbell
Publisher: Multi-Science Publishing
ISBN: 0906522110
Review written by: Marc Duane Anderson
Reviewer's Rating:9.5
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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