Oil 101

Author: Morgan Downey
By Wooden Table Press LLC
Average Customer Rating:

List Price: ~~£19.95~~
Our Price: £19.40

Customer Reviews

Encyclopaedic level of detail but no page-turner, 2010-08-23
This is a very interesting book, with a broad range of subjects covered in great depth. There is a lot of factual information to take in, encompassing pretty much the entire business end-to-end. However, this does mean that it can be quite hard work to read through some sections as certain parts are more like a fact sheet than something one would typically read. However, if you need to be introduced to the oil business in any of its many guises you will find a lot of useful terminology and facts about practical aspects of the business.

Great Book, 2009-10-01
This is a great book. I don't think a similar book exists which comes close.

I liked Oil 101 so much that I bought a copy for my sister (she is a chemist outside the oil industry) and she tells me that she likes it very much also. So, I heartily recommend the book to those like myself that are in the oil industry as well as anyone outside the industry interested in oil. There are no other books I could make a similar recommendation about.

Oil 101 is a neither a non-technical book nor a technical book. It is a summary of the entire industry with enough meat on each part to keep it engaging and enlightening. It is a book which can be read several ways and this is what it so useful about it: you can read it knowing nothing about the oil industry or use it to fill in the gaps around the area you know particularly well.

Oil 101 describes each part of the oil business at a brisk pace with few wasted words. Every area is covered, from how oil is found, extracted, refined, stored and transported to how it is finally priced at the pump. Even though I am familiar with most of the technical aspects of how oil is found, I still learned a lot of interesting and useful information.

The first chapter is the best brief history of oil I have ever seen. It moves at a rapid pace and every single sentence is jammed with information. I learned more about the oil industry in the first twenty pages than I could ever have imagined. Although the book is dense with information, it is presented clearly and is highly readable.

I read a few chapters in the sequence presented and then jumped to various other chapters such as Exploration and Production, Transporting Oil, and Oil Prices. I have found myself keeping the book on my desk and opening a random page and refreshing my learning about something interesting. The index is excellent also for looking up oil market terms.

The financial markets side of oil was something I was not familiar with and it amazed me how oil prices and oil markets work. This was the piece of the oil puzzle most valuable to me.

In summary, I highly recommend the book Oil 101 as it has conquered the job of simplifying the elaborate puzzle of oil in a most interesting and entertaining way. It is a great read and reference.

A crash course on the oil industry., 2010-05-23
This book takes a look at the oil sector, and how its fragments come together. From exploration to production, refining, transportation, storage and end use. Which products are used, how they're produced, and their margins.

It finishes off with a few chapters about the oil markets; how oil ties in with futures, options, and how risk is contained in the inherently volatile commodities markets.

It's a very dry read, and probably mainly to be used as a reference. But if you want to get more detail about the oil sector, during these days of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, this is an excellent place to start.

A comprehensive masterpiece, 2010-03-03
In basic terms, the life cycle of oil is that you dig a hole, find crude, boil it and get products. This book takes you to the next level and way beyond, starting out with the industry itself and how it developed (as a way of replacing whale oil for lighting), through to exploration and refining and a great, kitchen-sink chapter on product types, which is incredible in its detail. Great use of diagrams and tables add to the narrative, the style is informative. There is a bit of repetition between chapters but this only emphasises the points being made and the information being given.

I've been in an oil company for a number of years and found the book enlightening, interesting and absolutely vital to anyone with even a passing interest in the industry, either Oil or Gas (which is also covered).

The data is bang up to date, encompassing biofuels and the latest developments.

I can't recommend this enough, it is a bargain at the RRP.

The dictionary of the Oil business, Excellent, 2010-04-29
Take it from some one who is in the oil business. This is the best book of its kind. A Dictionary and the best guide to the Oil industry, easy to read, clearly explained. I have had the opportunity to read so many books on this subject and by far this is the best.

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Oil 101