Empires of Oil

Corporate Oil in Barbarian Worlds

Duncan Clarke

ISBN 1846680468

ISBN 13 9781846680465

September 2007

Price £20.00

Hardback, 256 pp.

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Subject: Current Affairs

We might think that the world’s oil empires are invincible megaliths, dominated by American interests, but Duncan Clarke reveals the ways in which these empires will face huge challenges in the twenty-first century. Based on razor-sharp analysis of contemporary geopolitics and a deep knowledge of global history, he shows exactly why these empires are declining.

He explains where the new empires of oil will be around the world; which of the hidden threats and unknown enemies are and will be the most serious; and where companies have gone wrong and can improve their global strategies. Empires of Oil reveals how the world will change because of global battles over the commodity that underpins our lives.

‘If you read just one book on oil this year, let it be by Duncan Clarke, whose Empires of Oil is a stimulating mix of futurology, philosophy, and real politik, with a dose of lateral thinking thrown in. Drawing on sources as diverse as Machiavelli and Gibbon, Niall Ferguson and Robert D Kaplan, as well as lessons learnt from three decades as a leading industry advisor, Clarke challenges current assumptions about the future of oil. The result is a blast of fresh intellectual air that forces a radical reappraisal of the role of the commodity that shapes our lives, for better or for worse. ’
— Michael Holman, Former Africa editor, Financial Times

‘...a triumph and will be read by many beyond the energy sector. Erudite, convincing and grounded in Clarke's experience of life in the oil-producing countries on the fringes of Western influence, Empires of Oil will command a place on the shelf devoted to other classics of international energy politics.’
— The Petroleum Economist