Oil and World Power: A Geographical Interpretation

by Peter R. Odell

Pelican Books, 1974. Trade paperback, Third edition. (ISBN 0-14-021169-1) Good copy, good wrappers, pages browning. A fascinating account of the oil industry — and more — this book presents a diversity of geographical and economic facts in a unity that holds and rewards our attention. The oil industry is the world's leading industry in size. Its extent is global, affecting every country. International issues from Rhodesia to Sino-Soviet relations are influenced by considerations of oil production and consumption whilst the international communications network of the larger oil companies rivals that of the majority of nations. In 1950 the world's crude oil production was 500 million tons. By 1970 it was 2000 and by 1980 over 4000. Professor Odell explains the complexities of this gigantic empire and its influences on us all. There are chapters on the U.S.A., the Soviet Union, the oil-exporting countries, Western Europe, Japan, and the oil-consuming countries of the developing world. This revised third edition presents and evaluates the traumatic events in the oil world since 1970. These are described as having produced quite fundamental changes in the world oil power structure. This is the first attempt to examine this new structure in its proper perspective. Political Science, History.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1974

Reviews

[Nick Harriss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book in a second-hand bookstore some time ago, and with the recent tumult in the energy markets, I thought it would be worth a read. It was written in 1974, a year after another war had massively disrupted energy markets, inflation had let rip and geopolitical tensions were high. While maybe only a quarter of the predictions came to pass, it still makes interesting reading as an example of prevailing thought at the time.