Petroleum, Industry and Governments, 2nd edition

A study of the Involvement of Industry and Government with the Production and use of Petroleum

The dire predictions of recent decades about the atmospheric effects of burning fossil fuels are being increasingly borne out, and are evoking fuller acknowledgement from businesses and governments. Yet to a large extent institutional denial persists, as fuel consumption continues to soar and petroleum industry profits break all records. What is to be done?

This book may not hold the ultimate answer, but it provides more information and solidly grounded insight into the scope of available options than the reader will find elsewhere. Hailed in its first (2000) edition as an indispensable resource for petroleum policymakers at every level, Bernard Taverne’s Petroleum, Industry and Governments has been fully updated to take into account the full spectrum of recent developments—national, regional, and international—as well as presenting a newly calibrated survey of available policy options. The coverage of the subject is prodigious, and includes the following and much more:

• extraction and production technology;

• factors determining economic value of petroleum;

• political risks incurred by the petroleum industry;

• pricing systems;

• climate change petroleum policies;

• national and international legislation;

• licensing regimes and production sharing agreements; and

• petroleum and the law of the sea.

Underlying much of the analysis and discussion are fundamental concerns with the ultimate exhaustion of oil and gas reserves, prospects for practicable economic alternatives, and control of CO2 emissions.

Because so much has happened in the field since 2000, all who depend on Petroleum, Industry and Governments will need this updated and significantly rewritten edition. At the present moment, and for some time to come, it remains an incomparable guide, both in theory and practice.