Book Review of Oil Titans: National Oil Companies in the Middle East by Valerie Marcel

Abstract

The field of economics is littered with numerous myths about energy, particularly about oil. At the top of the list is the notion of impending scarcity: because the earth's reserves are finite, they will be exhausted at some point in the future. In reality, if and when the growth of oil consumption seriously depletes reserves, the cost of extracting oil will have risen to such a high level that non-fossil energy sources will be used in preference to oil and other remaining fossil fuels - Europe's vast deposits of coal are currently lying dormant for this very reason...