So, who would have guessed that when I randomly saw The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Politics of Oil in an airport and thought to myself, "Hmm, I wish I knew more about that," that I would soon have a job at an oil price newsletter, in which I needed to thoroughly understand oil prices and market volatility.
Well, three months later, I'm becoming an expert on different means of oil distribution, and all of its different forms, as well as the volatility of its prices. And I can't say that too much of it is a result of reading this book, or reflected within its pages.

The book is more of a history of oil rather than a discussion of how the substance affects the innerworkings of politics today. However the chapters at the end of the book such as "Fuel Efficiency and Renewable Source of Energy" deal with modern problems such as finding alternative resources and how to properly allocate current ones- i.e. the balance between further oil exploration, conservation of current resources, and finding fuel alternatives.

Things I wish the book discussed, but didn't:
1) An explanation of how oil gets from the field to the gas pump or other finished product. It dedicates a bit too much space to describing how oil formed in the earth millenia ago, at the expense of how it is being unearthed and distributed today (also the center of its politics).
However, there are useful tables on pages 122-124 describing the world oil consumption and a breakdown of different oil byproducts.
2) "The truth behind fluctuating prices at the pump," as advertised on the book's front cover. I couldn't find that anywhere.
True, it did discuss the industry's early monopolies and the recent consolidation of the industry, but nothing more than simple supply-and-demand economics is used to explain price fluctuation.
A useful table on page 209 shows a breakdown of the costs contributing to the price of gasoline in March 2003.
And a cursory explanation is given of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

What I did like:
1)The tables discussed above. In fact, I wish there were more of them.
2)Chapter 14: Battling for Middle East Control, a very basic history of the oil-producing Middle Eastern countries, and U.S. involvement in their governments.
3)Chapter 18: The Politics of Energy that discusses President George W. Bush's Energy Task Force and the surrounding secrecy and controversy. The Bush Energy Plan and what it means for the future of the energy industry and alternative fueling, and Congressional Input.
4)Chapter 19: Federal Oil Leasing Policies- how much federal land qualifies for oil, gas, and geothermal exploration and exploitation, and how you could hold an oil or gas lease, and how American Indians were underpaid their royalties in the government's typical neglectful and exploitative fashion.

And the things that don't make sense:
Why long sections of the book were dedicated to the history of the automobile. Yes, of course the automotive, aviation and defense industries are HUGE consumers of oil, but a more cursory explanation of their development now that their dependency on oil is a given, would be more appropriate.
Note: Much thanks to scmrak for clarifying another mystery!

Recommended: No