This book presents a critical analysis of the 'resource curse' doctrine and a review of the international evidence on oil and urban development to examine the role of oil on property development and rights in West Africa's new oil metropolis - Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana. It seeks answers to the following questions: In what ways did the city come into existence? What changes to property rights are oil prospecting, explorations, and production introducing in the 21st century? How do the effects vary across different social classes and spectrums? To what extent are local and national institutions able to shape, restrain, and constrain trans-national oil-related accumulation and its effects on property in land, property in housing (residential, leisure, and commercial), and property in labour? How do these processes connect with the entire urban system in Ghana? This book shows how institutions of varying degrees of power interact to govern land, housing, and labour in the city, and analyses how efficient, sustainable, and equitable the outcomes of these interactions are. It is a comprehensive account of the tensions and contradictions in the main sectors of the urban economy, society, and environment in the booming Oil City and will be of interest to urban economists, development economists, real estate economists, Africanists and urbanists.

Russia is among the world’s leading oil producers, sitting atop the planet’s eighth largest reserves. Like other oil-producing nations, it has been profoundly transformed by the oil industry. In The Depths of Russia, Douglas Rogers offers a nuanced and multifaceted analysis of oil’s place in Soviet and Russian life, based on ethnographic fieldwork and archival research in the Perm region of the Urals. Moving beyond models of oil calibrated to capitalist centers and postcolonial "petrostates," Rogers traces the distinctive contours of the socialist—and then postsocialist—oil complex, showing how oil has figured in the making and remaking of space and time, state and corporation, exchange and money, and past and present. He pays special attention to the material properties and transformations of oil (from depth in subsoil deposits to toxicity in refining) and to the ways oil has echoed through a range of cultural registers. The Depths of Russia challenges the common focus on high politics and Kremlin intrigue by considering the role of oil in barter exchanges and surrogate currencies, industry-sponsored social and cultural development initiatives, and the city of Perm’s campaign to become a European Capital of Culture. Rogers also situates Soviet and post-Soviet oil in global contexts, showing that many of the forms of state and corporate power that emerged in Russia after socialism are not outliers but very much part of a global family of state-corporate alliances gathered at the intersection of corporate social responsibility, cultural sponsorship, and the energy and extractive industries.

New Tools, Old Tasks explores how Integrated Operations (IO) will influence the safety of offshore drilling operations. The book is based on several years of practical experience combined with a research study on the safety of IO within the drilling domain. The overall objective of the book is to explore how safety can be understood in the change process of Integrated Operations, and to provide recommendations for how IO may be developed and implemented in a way that will benefit both safety and efficiency of the operations. A crucial thread throughout the book is that the understanding of normal work processes is key to understanding the conditions for safe operations. This is reflected in the book's structure and content; the nature of normal drilling operations is the focus, including how technologies and work processes are aligned to meet the dominating challenges of the industry (these challenges need not be directly linked to safety/risk). It is argued that the influence of IO on the safety of drilling operations depends more on how IO relates to the existing fundamental challenges of drilling operations than on the design and properties of the different IO technologies and work processes as such.

Every day, millions of Americans get behind the wheels of their car, peacefully unaware of where the gas that powers their vehicle originates. Only transportation and industrial uses consume significant quantities of oil in the United States, with transportation by far the dominant user. Electric power generated by oil is virtually nonexistent, while residential and commercial heating uses for oil continue to fall. In Less Oil or More Caskets: The National Security Argument for Moving Away From Oil, Greg Ballard profiles the history of US troops in the Middle East the last forty plus years and the impact the oil industry has had on our international politics. More than a recap, Ballard makes a call to action for American politicians and citizens to change their ideas about transportation in America. By changing the fuel in our vehicles and embracing new technologies in transportation, he argues that within two decades our nation and the world could be on the path to freedom from the current dependence on oil-rich nations. This would preclude the United States from having to send troops overseas to protect the supply of oil for the entire world, saving both dollars and lives. .

Resistivity and induced polarization methods are used for a wide range of near-surface applications, including hydrogeology, civil engineering and archaeology, as well as emerging applications in the agricultural and plant sciences. This comprehensive reference text covers both theory and practice of resistivity and induced polarization methods, demonstrating how to measure, model and interpret data in both the laboratory and the field. Marking the 100 year anniversary of the seminal work of Conrad Schlumberger (1920), the book covers historical development of electrical geophysics, electrical properties of geological materials, instrumentation, acquisition and modelling, and includes case studies that capture applications to societally relevant problems. The book is also supported by a full suite of forward and inverse modelling tools, allowing the reader to apply the techniques to a wide range of applications using digital datasets provided online. This is a valuable reference for graduate students, researchers and practitioners interested in near-surface geophysics.

In 1956, geophysicist and Shell Oil researcher Marion King Hubbert forecast that American oil production would peak surprisingly soon and decline steadily thereafter. Hubbert's prediction outraged the architects of the US oil industry at the time but it was largely correct. Amid a twenty-first century shale boom, Hubbert's logic remains a source of debate. Richly researched, The Oracle of Oil rescues the history of a man who shocked the scientific community with his brilliance, eccentricity and controversy. Mason Inman shows Hubbert was a man of his era: a time of great intellectual ferment and discovery tinged by dark undercurrents of intellectual witch hunts. A portrait of a man whose prescient ideas about sustainability still resonate today, The Oracle of Oil looks to the past to find a guiding philosophy for our energy future.

The story of the petrochemical industry in the Arabian Gulf region is one of heroic endeavor. It exemplifies a much broader narrative of change as, within a few decades, we see groups of ancient tribes and families transformed into modern states playing important global roles. On visiting Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it is hard to believe that a mere half-century ago they were undeveloped backwaters.The cities of those countries are today centers of international commerce and industry, crisscrossed by expressways; their skylines include the most modern architecture; they offer all the conveniences of contemporary life, including well-equipped and professionally staffed hospitals, airports, schools, banks, and telecommunication systems. Yet a few decades ago, many were small, obscure trading towns and fishing villages, isolated from each other and from the world beyond.The lifestyles and standards of living that citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries take for granted could hardly have been imagined by their grandparents.Paucity has given way to prosperity, once-rampant illiteracy has virtually disappeared, and what had been mainly a rural population is now largely urban. Moreover, the population of the GCC countries has skyrocketed, augmented by the influx of foreigners seeking employment in the industrial and service sectors. The dramatic transformation of the GCC countries is rooted in the fabulous hydrocarbon riches that lie beneath their ground. However, it would be a mistake to think that success of these states is solely the result of rich reserves of oil and gas. Other countries have oil riches and yet have failed to develop at the scale of those of the GCC or to improve the lives of their citizens in similar fashion.As we look at the petrochemical industry in the GCC region, we can see several key factors that underlie its success. First among these is the far-sightedness of GCC leaders, who neither played it safe by investing government oil revenues overseas, as some consultants had advised, nor squandered this revenue through profligate spending.Instead, at a critical point, they courageously invested billions of dollars to create modern infrastructure, to finance the launch of petrochemical ventures, and to send thousands of their citizens for overseas education. The latter investment was especially important as it created a technocrat class that could lead and develop industrial ventures. In subsequent years, investments in infrastructure, new enterprises, and overseas scholarships have continued, coupled with the development of world-class institutions of higher learning in the GCC countries. Another factor has been the readiness of GCC nationals employed in petrochemical enterprises to view their employment as something of a patriotic mission. Especially in the early years of the industry, this sense of mission encouraged many to forgo high salaries and perks and to work tirelessly to create world-class domestic chemical companies. Also important has been the willingness of international oil companies operating in the Arabian Gulf region-Exxon, Mobil, Total, Shell, and others-to participate in petrochemical joint ventures with GCC governments.This brought much-needed technology and marketing know-how to GCC petrochemical enterprises and set the stage for other Western partners to join.

America's Kingdom debunks the many myths that now surround the United States's "special relationship" with Saudi Arabia, or what is less reverently known as "the deal": oil for security. Taking aim at the long-held belief that the Arabian American Oil Company, ARAMCO, made miracles happen in the desert, Robert Vitalis shows that nothing could be further from the truth. What is true is that oil led the U.S. government to follow the company to the kingdom. Eisenhower agreed to train Ibn Sa'ud's army, Kennedy sent jets to defend the kingdom, and Lyndon Johnson sold it missiles. Oil and ARAMCO quickly became America's largest single overseas private enterprise. Beginning with the establishment of a Jim Crow system in the Dhahran oil camps in the 1930s, the book goes on to examine the period of unrest in the 1950s and 1960s when workers challenged the racial hierarchy of the ARAMCO camps while a small cadre of progressive Saudis challenged the hierarchy of the international oil market. The defeat of these groups led to the consolidation of America's Kingdom under the House of Fahd, the royal faction that still rules today. This is a gripping story that covers more than seventy years, three continents, and an engrossing cast of characters. Informed by first hand accounts from ARAMCO employees and top U.S. government officials, this book offers the true story of the events on the Saudi oil fields. After America's Kingdom, mythmakers will have to work harder on their tales about ARAMCO being magical, honorable, selfless, and enlightened.

Conflict over the extraction of coal and gas resources has rapidly escalated in communities throughout the world. Using an environmental justice lens, this multidisciplinary book explores cases of land use conflict through the lived experiences of communities grappling with such disputes. Drawing on theories of justice and fairness in environmental decision making, it demonstrates how such land use conflicts concerning resource use can become entrenched social problems, resistant to policy and legal intervention. The author presents three case studies from New South Wales in Australia and Pennsylvania in the US of conflict concerning coal, coal gas and shale gas development. It shows how conflict has escalated in each case, exploring access to justice in land use decision making processes from the perspective of the communities at the heart of these disputes. Weaknesses in contemporary policy and regulatory frameworks, including ineffective opportunities for public participation and a lack of community recognition in land use decision making processes, are explored. The book concludes with an examination of possible procedural and institutional reforms to improve access to environmental justice and better manage cases of land use conflict. Overall, the volume links the philosophies of environmental justice with rich case study findings, offering readers further insight into both the theory and practice of land use decision making.

Process industries have a particularly urgent need for collaborative equipment management systems, but until now have lacked for programs directed toward their specific needs. TPM in Process lndustries brings together top consultants from the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance to modify the original "TPM Development Program." In this volume, they demonstrate how to analyze process environments and equipment issues including process loss structure and calculation, autonomous maintenance, equipment and process improvement, and quality maintenance. For all organizations managing large equipment, facing low operator/machine ratios, or implementing extensive improvement, this text is an invaluable resource.

The North Sea oil industry plays a vital role in the UK economy. Oil was first pumped ashore thirty years ago and based on current estimates there are still thirty further years of oil reserves to be claimed from the sea. This exhibition aims to capture the vibrant community of people working throughout the sector. Scottish portrait painter Fionna Carlisle will create 24 new portraits representing a cross section of the people working in the oil industry, from employees of major international corporations to the self-employed. There are portraits of geologists, rig-builders, economists, helicopter pilots, the technical and service staff on the rigs themselves, and many others - all of whom have been chosen to represent the many aspects of this vital industry.

As global consumption of fossil fuels such as oil increases, previously abundant sources have become depleted or plagued with obstructions. Asphaltene deposition is one of such obstructions which can significantly decrease the rate of oil production. This book offers concise yet thorough coverage of the complex problem of asphaltene precipitation and deposition in oil production. It covers fundamentals of chemistry, stabilization theories and mechanistic approaches of asphaltene behavior at high temperature and pressure. Asphaltene Deposition: Fundamentals, Prediction, Prevention, and Remediation explains techniques for experimental determination of asphaltene precipitation and deposition and different modeling tools available to forecast the occurrence and magnitude of asphaltene deposition in a given oil field. It discusses strategies for mitigation of asphaltene deposition using chemical inhibition and corresponding challenges, best practices for asphaltene remediation, current research, and case studies.

This book highlights the continuing impunity enjoyed by corporations for large scale crimes, and in particular the crime of toxic waste dumping in Ivory Coast in 2006. It provides an account of the crime, and outlines contributory reasons for the impunity both under the law and from a criminological point of view. Furthermore, the book reveals the retrogressive role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ivory coast, contrary to the societal expectations made of 'non-governmental' organisations (NGOs) and CSOs. This book reveals that in the case of this particular example of state-corporate crime, civil society as an agency of censure and sanction actually played a distinctly retrogressive role. Here, in fact, state and state-corporate crime facilitates corruption within the civil society sphere through a process referred to in the book as the 'commodification of victimhood' and, as a result, ensures that impunity is virtually guaranteed for the corporation and the Ivorian government. This book also examines the failure of international and domestic legal measures to sanction the perpetrators alongside civil society's shortcomings and ultimately advocates a more cautionary approach to civil society's potential to label, censure and sanction large-scale state-corporate crime. This book will help readers understand the difficulties in sanctioning such crime as well as promoting the theoretical framework of state crime, the understanding of which could lead to the alleviation of human suffering at the hands of criminal states and corporations.

When oil and gas exploration was expanding across Aotearoa New Zealand, Patricia Widener was there interviewing affected residents and environmental and climate activists, and attending community meetings and anti-drilling rallies. Exploration was occurring on an unprecedented scale when oil disasters dwelled in recent memory, socioecological worries were high, campaigns for climate action were becoming global, and transitioning toward a low carbon society seemed possible. Yet unlike other communities who have experienced either an oil spill, or hydraulic fracturing, or offshore exploration, or climate fears, or disputes over unresolved Indigenous claims, New Zealanders were facing each one almost simultaneously. Collectively, these grievances created the foundation for an organized civil society to construct and then magnify a comprehensive critical oil narrative--in dialogue, practice, and aspiration. Community advocates and socioecological activists mobilized for their health and well-being, for their neighborhoods and beaches, for Planet Earth and Planet Ocean, and for terrestrial and aquatic species and ecosystems. They rallied against toxic, climate-altering pollution; the extraction of fossil fuels; a myriad of historic and contemporary inequities; and for local, just, and sustainable communities, ecologies, economies, and/or energy sources. In this allied ethnography, quotes are used extensively to convey the tenor of some of the country’s most passionate and committed people. By analyzing the intersections of a social movement and the political economy of oil, Widener reveals a nuanced story of oil resistance and promotion at a time when many anti-drilling activists believed themselves to be on the front lines of the industry’s inevitable decline.

At its founding in 1932, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was characterized by tribal warfare, political instability, chronic financial shortages and economic crises. As a desert chieftain, Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud, the ruler and king until 1953, had the skills, the cunning and the power to control the tribes and bring peace to this realm. But financial and economic matters were not his forte and these he left mostly to a single individual, Abdullah al-Sulayman al-Hamdan. He was entrusted with nearly all of the country's early financial dealings and administrative development. The Ministry of Finance, which he headed from its inception, served as nearly the sole government agency dealing with a wide variety of matters, many of which had only a peripheral connection to finance or the economy. This book examines the role of the Ministry of Finance and its minister, Abdullah al-Sulayman, in holding the country together financially and administratively until the promise of substantial oil income was realized a few years after the end of World War II. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in Gulf History and the Economic History of the Middle East.

The precipitation and deposition of solids are a major challenge in the production of oil and gas. Flow assurance solids are formed because of unavoidable changes in temperature, pressure and composition of the oil-gas-water flowstream, from reservoir conditions to processing conditions. The advent of subsea production and the increased exploitation of heavy crudes have made flow assurance issues dominant in ensuring efficient and safe exploitation of hydrocarbon assets. Five troublesome flow assurance solids are described in the book: asphaltene, paraffin wax, natural gas hydrate, naphthenate and inorganic scale. These big-five solids are presented in stand-alone chapters. Each chapter is designed to be readable without clutter. Derivations of equations and descriptions of supporting details are given in several appendices. The book is intended for professional engineers and natural scientist working in E&P companies, engineering companies, service companies and specialized companies. An understanding of the big-five solids is required throughout the lifetime of oil and gas assets, from early development to abandonment. The technical, safety and environmental risks associated with deposition problems in near-wellbore formations, production tubing, wellhead equipment, flowlines and processing facilities, are relevant for decisions in the oil and gas industry and in outside regulatory and financial entities.

Originally published in 1984, this study focuses on petroleum agreements between non-OPEC LDCs with oil-importing LDCs and how issues such as high oil prices affect each country. The information presented in this study was drawn from interviews with petroleum officials in petroleum companies, petroleum ministries and unpublished documents such as contracts and focussing on case studies of countries such as Peru, Guatemala and Malaysia. This title will be of interest to students of environmental studies and economics.

These days, one would have a difficult time picking up a newspaper, or watching a newscast that did not have a lead story dealing with some aspect of oil. From instability in the Middle East, to stock market crashes and concerns over the health of the world economy, to wars that seem to break out unexpectedly around the world, to discussions of global warming, and even speculation over the fate of mankind, oil is usually lurking somewhere in the background. To many, oil markets and their linkages to a whole spectrum of events remain something of a mystery. Unfortunately, most of the easily obtained information on oil is deeply flawed. Whole web-conspiracy sites depict ruthless insiders and reckless dictators manipulating energy markets at will. The 30 essays in this volume, written by the leading experts in the field, attempt to set the record straight. While their assessments may lack the sensationalism of many popular pundits, serious readers will find their insights invaluable in the years to come in providing a framework for understanding many of the events of the day. The volume is divided into sections. Part I provides a broad overview of the political dimensions underlying the supply of oil. Some of the key questions addressed include: is the world running out of oil? And if so, is the cause physical scarcity or political/policy failure? Why are many of the oil-producing countries in the developing world so unstable? Can oil markets be made to provide more stability to the world system? Part II examines some of the political responses to oil-related developments. Here, the key questions concern the role of the political process in the development of alternative sources of energy. The various means through which countries approach their energy security is assessed, as is the problem of climate change. The section ends with the provocative question: do governments really need to go to war for oil? Oil production, energy markets, and the political environment produce distinct regional patterns. Part III examines oil and political power in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and South-East Asia. Part IV expands some of the main regional themes through a series of case studies on specific countries: Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Russia and Brazil. A final section looks to the future: will the oil curse continue for many countries? How will the growth and expansion of China affect oil prices and availabilities? Will oil-based sovereign wealth funds contribute to global stability or will they create increased political tensions between consuming and producing countries? Will volatile oil markets undermine the US dollar as well as the global financial system? Perhaps appropriately, the volume ends with an assessment of the future of oil in a carbon constrained world. All in all, the essays in this volume cover the whole spectrum of the politics of oil. They will help shed light on this vital, yet still often misunderstood topic. The book does not represent any particular political or ideological position. Instead, each author has sought to objectively seek a deeper understanding as to the complexity and subtlety of forces that have all too often eluded policymakers around the world.

In Energy without Conscience David McDermott Hughes investigates why climate change has yet to be seen as a moral issue. He examines the forces that render the use of fossil fuels ordinary and therefore exempt from ethical evaluation. Hughes centers his analysis on Trinidad and Tobago, which is the world's oldest petro-state, having drilled the first continuously producing oil well in 1866. Marrying historical research with interviews with Trinidadian petroleum scientists, policymakers, technicians, and managers, he draws parallels between Trinidad's eighteenth- and nineteenth-century slave labor energy economy and its contemporary oil industry. Hughes shows how both forms of energy rely upon a complicity that absolves producers and consumers from acknowledging the immoral nature of each. He passionately argues that like slavery, producing oil is a moral choice and that oil is at its most dangerous when it is accepted as an ordinary part of everyday life. Only by rejecting arguments that oil is economically, politically, and technologically necessary, and by acknowledging our complicity in an immoral system, can we stem the damage being done to the planet.

An exploration of the social and environmental consequences of oil extraction in the tropical rainforest. Using northern Veracruz as a case study, the author argues that oil production generated major historical and environmental transformations in land tenure systems and uses, and social organisation. Such changes, furthermore, entailed effects, including the marginalisation of indigenes, environmental destruction, and tense labour relations. In the context of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), however, the results of oil development did not go unchallenged. Mexican oil workers responded to their experience by forging a politicised culture and a radical left militancy that turned 'oil country' into one of the most significant sites of class conflict in revolutionary Mexico. Ultimately, the book argues, Mexican oil workers deserve their share of credit for the 1938 decree nationalising the foreign oil industry - heretofore reserved for President Lazaro Cardenas - and thus changing the course of Mexican history.

A sound knowledge of different facets of petro-Economics is a economics is a sine quo non particularly for the petro-chemical sectors dealing with exploration, development, production, refining, transportation. Storage and marketing of oil, natural gas and a wide range of petro- products. Evolution and application of the concept of petro-economics, following the first-ever major ' oil shock' in the early 1970s has gained strategic significance and tremendous momentum from the first decade of the 21st century on the following ground: (i) Emerging need for integration of national energy security with global energy security environment; (ii) Growing concern for safeguarding dwindling strategic oil and natural gas reserves to cater to the growing economy in the developing world (particularly the BRIC nations) with much greater projected future demand for oil and natural gas; (iii) segmentation of the global oil and natural gas market on a geo-political basis, compounded by the overwhelming ramifications of regional economic unions; (iv) price structuring, rationalization/ parity, and attendant accounting problems of oil and natural gas in terms of upstream, midstream, downstream, marketing/ retailing activities associated with crudes, refined oil and natural gas (including LNG, CNG) products.

Oil waste was everywhere-on the roads, in the rivers where they fished, and in the water that they used for bathing, cooking, and washing. Children became sick and died, cases of stomach cancer skyrocketed, and women miscarried or gave birth to children with congenital disorders. The American oil company Texaco-now part of Chevron-extracted its first barrel of crude oil from Amazonian Ecuador in 1972. It left behind millions of gallons of spilled oil and more than eighteen million gallons of toxic waste. In Crude, Ecuadorian lawyer and activist Pablo Fajardo gives a firsthand account of Texaco's involvement in the Amazon as well as the ensuing legal battles between the oil company, the Ecuadorian government, and the region's inhabitants. As a teenager, Fajardo worked in the Amazonian oil fields, where he witnessed the consequences of Texaco/Chevron's indifference to the environment and to the inhabitants of the Amazon. Fajardo mobilized with his peers to seek reparations and in time became the lead counsel for UDAPT (Union of People Affected by Texaco), a group of more than thirty thousand small farmers and indigenous people from the northern Ecuadorian Amazon who continue to fight for reparations and remediation to this day. Eye-opening and galvanizing, Crude brings to light one of the least well-known but most important cases of environmental and racial injustice of our time.

The United States is highly dependent on foreign oil. Well over half of the oil and petroleum products consumed in America--approximately 12 million barrels per day, or more than 600 gallons for every man, woman, and child each year--now come from abroad. And the U.S. government projects that the level of imports will only continue to rise, reaching between 16 and 21 million barrels per day by 2025.
What precisely are the costs of U.S. foreign oil dependence? Unfortunately, no one has yet offered a satisfactory answer to this vital question. As a result, the costs to the United States of its dependence on oil from abroad have gone largely unrecognized and, in fact, are much greater than most people realize. Some costs, like the annual bill for oil imports--and, by reflection, the price that motorists pay at the pump or the size of homeowners' heating oil bills--are obvious and quantifiable. A number of others, however, are not so apparent or easy to measure. For example, it is difficult to put a price tag on the costs of coddling oil-rich authoritarian regimes at the expense of promoting representative government, human rights, and other important values.
This book seeks to remedy this oversight by providing the first comprehensive analysis of the costs--both economic and policy-related--of U.S. foreign oil dependence and how they might be reduced. It shows that since the 1970s, the economic costs alone have run into the trillions of dollars. Successive administrations have tended to neglect the opportunities at home to reduce these costs by limiting demand. Instead, they have emphasized foreign and military policies that have proven both highly expensive and largelyunsuccessful.
One positive conclusion the author draws is that the opportunities for reducing oil consumption remain largely unexploited and the costs of U.S. foreign oil dependence can still be substantially reduced at relatively little expense. At least as important, however, will be rethinking and revising the expensive foreign, security, and military policies and commitments that have developed around U.S. foreign oil dependence over the past three decades.

Countries that are rich in petroleum have less democracy, less economic stability, and more frequent civil wars than countries without oil. What explains this oil curse? And can it be fixed? In this groundbreaking analysis, Michael L. Ross looks at how developing nations are shaped by their mineral wealth--and how they can turn oil from a curse into a blessing.

Ross traces the oil curse to the upheaval of the 1970s, when oil prices soared and governments across the developing world seized control of their countries' oil industries. Before nationalization, the oil-rich countries looked much like the rest of the world; today, they are 50 percent more likely to be ruled by autocrats--and twice as likely to descend into civil war--than countries without oil.

"The Oil Curse" shows why oil wealth typically creates less economic growth than it should; why it produces jobs for men but not women; and why it creates more problems in poor states than in rich ones. It also warns that the global thirst for petroleum is causing companies to drill in increasingly poor nations, which could further spread the oil curse.

This landmark book explains why good geology often leads to bad governance, and how this can be changed.