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394th out of 655 books
—
492 voters
Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil
Although Africa has long been known to be rich in oil, extracting it hadn’t seemed worth the effort and risk until recently. But with the price of Middle Eastern crude oil skyrocketing and advancing technology making reserves easier to tap, the region has become the scene of a competition between major powers that recalls the nineteenth-century scramble for colonization th...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
April 9th 2007
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 2007)
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This is a very interesting, thorough book about the recent oil boom in West Africa. Obviously not for everyone, but I learned a lot about the region, including the colonial origins (I was woefully ignorant of these) of the various countries, extent of both onshore and offshore development, the basics of several civil wars, ethnic struggles, along with the various issues (Dutch disease, theft, allocation of royalties, etc.) that arise when undeveloped countries strike it rich. The author is, in m...more
Wow! "Curse of oil" is right. I had no idea some of the countries visited by the author even had oil because they are such poor nations. Now I understand why many of these countries are so poor. The only thing missing was the authors ideas about alternative ways to meet our energy needs but then again, that wasn't the point of this book. I still can't find a good argument to applaud the business big oil companies do in these oil rich poor countries. I liked the point the author made about how ma...more
Nov 25, 2012
Mitch
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone who is working or wants to work in Nigeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, or Gabon
Recommended to Mitch by:
A classmate
The conflicts surrounding Sub-Saharan Africa are anything but multifaceted, deeply-rooted issues. A common aspect of such issues rests in the windfall of natural resources. Alongside diamonds, platinum, and gold, crude oil stands as the centerpoint for understanding Sub-Saharan Africa’s resource wealth. Untapped follows John Ghazvinian as he records and reports on the chief oil rich states of Nigeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and Angola - and his reports are nothing shy of summary. Ghazvi...more
Though there is somewhat too much of the breathless and death-defying journalistic adventure, this is a worthwhile critical narrative covering recent conditions surrounding petroleum production in Africa. Ghazvinian traveled widely throughout Africa, and his account is particularly valuable for revealing the character of private mercenaries, authoritarian surveillance, and corporate suppression of petroleum production activities. MPRI and Executive Outcomes among others appear often in this book...more
Since I am about to teach African politics in the fall, I have been reviewing the many books on the exploitation of oil resources in Africa. This is a quick-read overview, and I won't assign it as required, but it is a good intro to the issue of how the search for exploitable oil in unprotected states in Africa is driving foreign policies of big states.
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Very readable introduction to not only oil politics, but also the general politics of several major West African oil producers. Didn't focus as much on Sudan as I thought it would, but helped me learn a lot about West African geography and recent history (since independence for most of these countries).
Had I read this book before my trip to Nigeria last year, everything I saw would've made perfect sense. John Ghazvinian pulled no punches in his journalism. A must read!
Oct 03, 2010
Judd
is currently reading it
also so far so good. especially interested in author's theories about the curse of oil, which can be expanded into the curse of "fill in the mineral."
Dec 02, 2007
David
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anybody interested in the global economy
Shelves:
recommendedbybillvirgin
I confess I approached this book with only a cursory familiarity with the sub-Sahara Africa. What I found was a picture of greed, corruption and societies that seem to encourage the worst in human behavior.
The book is written as a travelogue; each chapter is devoted to the author's exploration of a country in the Gulf of Guinea region. The style is conversational, which makes the prose easy to read. This is not to say that this is by any means a "light" book.
In short, this book serves as a great...more
The book is written as a travelogue; each chapter is devoted to the author's exploration of a country in the Gulf of Guinea region. The style is conversational, which makes the prose easy to read. This is not to say that this is by any means a "light" book.
In short, this book serves as a great...more
A fascinating and engaging look at the history of the oil industry in Africa as well as its social and political effects. The author is particularly concerned with the vast disparities of wealth that oil has generated in those nations possessing oil as well as the increasing attention being paid to Africa by the Great Powers and the oil industry.
The author avoids the easy way out - blaming all of Africa's problems on evil foreigners/imperialists/capitalists/oligarchs, instead painting a much ric...more
The author avoids the easy way out - blaming all of Africa's problems on evil foreigners/imperialists/capitalists/oligarchs, instead painting a much ric...more
Jul 31, 2010
Monique
added it
A frightening look at oil.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in African current events or international oil politics. The author ties each chapter together with his personal experiences within each county. The book benefits from this, but the author is also gifted with the ability to describe African politics and history lucidly. I would also recommend Robert Klitgaard's "Tropical Gangsters" or Howard French's "A Continent For The Taking" to anyone who liked this book or is interested in the subject...more
Belongs in the travel writing section. If too many people read this, we won't be able to go to Sao Tome.
Part travel diary and part international analysis of the oil industry in Africa, the author, a crafty journalist/academic, spends a couple years traveling around some of the roughest parts of Africa while asking the kinds of questions that could get one killed. This book is not only very informative, but it is also a compelling read. I highly recommend it to environmentalists and humanitarians.
Untapped paints a disturbing picture of modern Africa, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea. Part travelogue, part modern history, and part economic and political analysis, this well-researched and compelling book documents the litany of woes that have accompanied Africa’s rise as an oil-producing region. Ghazvinian deserves enormous credit for writing an accessible and intelligent account.
John Ghazvinian hit the ground in Africa to research the oil rush there, and while that sounds like common sense, he is one of the few. It means a remarkable insight into the continent, but mainly into the industry that is changing Africa. He visits the boom towns, with their devastating "gold rush" atmosphere, instead of sticking with any oil company junket.
Good for the information, I suppose, but written in a particularly engaging fashion. The preface does nothing other than give the reader that the author is self-involved or is angling for a good opening scene when it's adapted to film, which will be never. I think the content would have been better-presented as a series of long articles in a worthwhile monthly.
Loved this book. It should be the first book you read on the oil industry in Africa. I think I'll use this in an African Politics class in the future.
Engaging non-fiction that looks at the continent's role in world energy... I didn't know very much about oil and so learned a lot on that front, but mostly I loved it because it gave a careful, modern look at the continent without getting either sensational or ultra-conservative.
Untapped is a tidy piece of popularized political economics. For obvious reasons, it's an important subject to understand, and the author makes the story quite compelling and entertaining.
I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested in the future development of African nations. -EL
A fascinating read on the politics of oil and Africa -- part travel log, part reportage -- a really great book.
The tragedies involved when a country gains "wealth" from oil discovery.
May 18, 2013
brooksse
marked it as to-read
May 05, 2013
Judd
added it
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“After years of watching their patrimony squandered in this way, a large percentage of the [Niger] Delta's population feels abandoned by both national and local politicians, and has settled on illegal bunkering as the most direct way to ensure that they benefit from their own oil wealth. The trouble is that what started as activism has become an industry. In the words of one activist, 'It is becoming increasingly difficult to separate greed from grievance.”
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