The Secret World of Oil

by Ken Silverstein

The oil industry provides the lifeblood of modern civilization, and bestselling books have been written about the industry and even individual companies in it, like ExxonMobil. But the modern oil industry is an amazingly shady meeting ground of fixers, gangsters, dictators, competing governments, and multinational corporations, and until now, no book has set out to tell the story of this largely hidden world.

The global fleet of some 11,000 tankers—that's tripled during the past decade—moves approximately 2 billion metric tons of oil annually. And every stage of the route, from discovery to consumption, is tainted by corruption and violence, even if little of that is visible to the public.

Based on trips to New York, Washington, Houston, London, Paris, Geneva, Phnom Penh, Dakar, Lagos, Baku, and Moscow, among other far-flung locals, The Secret World of Oil includes up-close portraits of a shadowy Baku-based trader; a high-flying London fixer; and an oil dictator's playboy son who has to choose one of his eleven luxury vehicles when he heads out to party in Los Angeles. Supported by funding from the prestigious Open Society, this is both an entertaining global travelogue and a major work of investigative reporting.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, History, Politics, Business, Research, Journalism

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Ken Silverstein is an American investigative journalist. He has worked for Racket, Racket Teen, Harper’s Magazine, The Intercept and the Los Angeles Times. He resides in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Saman · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب دنیای پنهان نفت در سال 2014 به نوشته آقای کن سیلورستین روزنامه گار فعال مطبوعات آمریکا چاپ شده و در ایران توسط پیروز اشرف و نشر نو در سال 1401 در اختیار خوانندگان قرار گرفته. این کتاب که از هفت فصل به عناوین «کارچاق کن ها: الی کالیل»، «دیکتاتورها: تئودورین اوبیانگ»، «معامله گران: گلنگور»، «پرده داران: برتون سیارونی»، «کارگزاران غیررسمی: تونی بلر»، «لابیگران: لوییزیانا» و «تکمله: کلاش: نیل بوش» تشکیل شده سفری است مهیج به درون یکی از غیر شفاف ترین و اسرار آمیزترین و پول سازترین صنایع دنیا،یعنی نفت.هر فصل با محوریت قرار دادن یک شخص/یک شرکت سعی داره مطلب مورد نظرش رو بررسی کنه.در این کتاب ما با ساز و کار نفت و دنیای پیچیده اش آشنا میشیم.از لابی گری ها و واسطه هایی میخوانیم که نقش به غایت مهمی دارند..از دو رویی دول مختلف آمریکا و سیاسیون این کشور میخوانیم که اگر در نقطه ای از دنیا سود مالی شرکتهای آمریکایی در بازار نفت تامین بشه با تزویر چشمشون رو به ادعاهای خوش رنگ و لعاب حقوق بشری میبندند و اون کشور و حاکم رو به عنوان دوست خود معرفی و حمایت می‌کنند.از تونی بلری میخوانیم که بعد از دوران نخست وزیریش رو آورده به سخنرانی های پولکی و رفاقت با دیکتاتورهای آسیایی.با کارچاق کن ها و لابی گرانی مثل الی کالیل و برتون سیارونی آشنا میشیم و دهه ها فعالیت اونها در این صنعت و رشد و پیشرفت و چالش ها و روابط اونها رو میبینیم..نقش مهم این افراد در جوش داد معاملات و نفوذشون بین سیاسیون کشورها جالب و خواندنی بود.نویسنده روزنامه نگار کتاب،در گزارشاتی با حال و هوای ژورنالیستی، از ماشینها و املاک و غذاهای گران قیمت افراد مختلف فعال در این حوزه هم مواردی رو ذکر کرده.در فصل مربوط به لوییزینا با بعد دیگری از این طلا یا بلای سیاه آشنا میشیم.در این فصل نویسنده از پرونده های حقوقی میگه که به خاطر شکایت مردم از شرکتهای نفتی به وجود آمده و از پولی که وکلا از طریق این پرونده ها به جیب میزنند.از تامین مالی که شرکتهای نفتی در کمپینهای انتخاباتی انجام میدند هم اشاراتی میشه.نویسنده در این زمینه تحقیق انجام داده و سفرهای متعددی کرده و با افراد فعال این حوزه گفت و گوهای مختلفی انجام داده و حاصلش این کتاب شده.البته برخی روایاتی که میاره منسجم نیست و از چفت و بست خوبی برخوردار نیست ولی در کل کتابی بود خواندنی و قابل درک.

[Ayman Fadel · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com...

Note that the author of this book is not this Ken Silverstein, who writes in energy industry publications.

If you care about the poor or the environment, be prepared to vomit in your mouth at nearly every other page of this account of the oil and other resource extraction industries.

Ken Silverstein devotes a chapter to each of the following categories of players in this woeful tragedy: the fixers, the dictators, the traders, the gatekeepers, the flacks, the lobbyists and the hustlers.


While varied dictatorial regimes from Africa and Asia figure throughout the novel, Silverstein profiled Teodorin Obiang, the heir apparent to Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the dictator of Equitorial Guinea.

Have you ever heard of Glencore? It makes mountains of money trading rights to exploit natural resources around the world.

Do you know George W Bush's torture consiglieri John Yoo (and here), who also happens to heartily approve of Barack Obama's warmongering? Before him there was Ronald Reagan's legal yes-man Bretton Sciaroni, who wrote memos explaining why it was legal for the United States government to aid the Contra terrorists killing Nicaraguans. Do these guys end up in prison or at the end of a noose like Nazi war criminals? Yoo is teaching at University of California - Berkeley, and Sciaroni, who talks with Silverstein without the slightest recognition of himself as a sleaze, is a potentate in Cambodia.

If you ever have the opportunity to throw your shoe at Tony Blair, do so with righteous anger. Before you read the chapter about him, you may want to have some inanimate object close by that you can destroy. At least write and perform a song about him.

Lest you think that resource extraction only impacts politics in the Third World, read the chapter on Louisiana. And think twice before voting for Bobby Jindal.

Silverstein ends with a humorous narration of the career of Neil Bush, the son of President George H.W. Bush and brother of President George W Bush. I guess you'll think it's funny if you find humor in the ability of USA blue-bloods to land in money no matter their incompetence.

The book does not offer solutions or best practices. The people interviewed in this book agree that there's simply too much money at stake to care about poor people or the environment.

A large question humanity must answer is whether capitalism can adapt to prevent destruction of our biosphere. This is the premise behind books like Ecological Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and E. O. Wilson's The Future of Life. These liberal environmentalists believe that market mechanisms can be adjusted to delay ecological collapse until technology or human consciousness solves the threats to our biosphere. Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything is more radical in its demand that our entire economic system needs revolutionary change.

Silverstein's book certainly takes the sparkle out of liberal environmentalists' proposals.

Silverstein makes excellent use of USA diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks. Consider supporting whistleblowers and the news outlets which publish material using the leaks.

I'm tweeting some of tidbits from the book under the hashtag #SecretWorldOfOil. Join the conversation.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ken Silverstein's "The Secret World of Oil" offers a more even-keeled, oil industry-focused expose of corruption, hypocrisy and greed than Matt Taibbi's brutal takedown of the financial industry in "Griftopia." Where Griftopia's rage infected you and incited you to storm the ramparts a la the rebellious students in Les Miz, "The Secret World of Oil" causes you to shake your head in frustration.

Hundreds of times.

Silverstein walks through the various shady aspects of the oil industry, from the wealthy strongmen raping their own countries to the global corporations that exercise power and influence along the lines of James Bond's nemesis SPECTRE to the incompetent boobs who make millions solely due to their family name. It's a well-researched, enjoyably-frustrating read that lets the facts do the arguing.

My favorite chapter focuses on Louisiana and the delicate politics of oil. In the land of Katrina and gumbo, Republican fights against Republican as corporate polluters are hauled into court by wealthy Republicans who are standing up for private property rights . . . and the "evil" trial lawyers reap the benefits in huge fees and damages awards. Full disclosure - I'm a lawyer, but not a "trial lawyer." Silverstein gets amazing access to the key players in the industry as well as several political players who describe in great detail the raging fight. The corporate polluters remain the primary villain - if only because their chicanery has been so brazen and prolonged.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the ocean of oil money has tainted people the world over. Silverstein's book gives us a clear picture of the sweeping extent of that corruption and the various roles that can be played - both direct and indirect - to siphon off a cut of the billions.

The book proposes no solutions, and perhaps no such solutions exist. This is a job of reportage rather than identifying a problem and solving it. The book succeeds, as far as it goes - the four-star review reflects merely the limitations of the book, but within its parameters it's an excellent read.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Secret World of Oil provides a comprehensive look into the lesser talked about aspects of a corrupt, global oil industry. Even if you follow current events relating to oil, this book will give you information on aspects of the industry you likely have heard hardly anything about.

This book was fascinating. I had no idea that the oil industry was so corrupt and that it was just a fact of life that the corruption occurs, no one is really set to stop it. I also learned a lot about the environmental aspects of the oil industry, which was fascinating. I know the basics of how oil drilling can hurt the environment but I never really understood the specifics. This book gave me all the specifics, as well as detailing other information about the tensions surrounding the environment and oil companies that really portrayed the environmental issues in a stronger light.

The format of this book was very easy to follow. Each chapter revolves around a specific topic, from the fixers to the environment, and each chapter flows smoothly into the next. Each chapter was also comprehensive, with small subtopics of information for the reader to understand the bigger picture of the issue in the chapter. This book is easy to follow and understand, for even the most novice non-fiction reader.

Silverstein writes in a style that is informative, yet still easy and pleasurable to read. The author writes in a smooth style that flows along the pages nicely. He also does a fantastic job of painting a picture in the readers head of the things that he saw while out researching the information and interviewing officials for the book.

I would definitely recommend this book to all whom are interested in learning more about the oil industry, especially the corrupt side. I would also recommend this book to those who are interested in books about the environment. Oil is a huge part of our everyday lives and thus has a big impact on the environment, this book does a fantastic job of illustrating the issues the oil industry brings to the environment.

I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wahrscheinlich jeder in meinem Umfeld hat es in den vergangenen Wochen mitbekommen, wie sehr dieses Buch meine Wut auf die Öllobby kanalisiert hat. Es ist jetzt per se erstmal nichts Neues, dass die Öllobby gottlose Dinge tut und für viel Schlimmes in der Welt verantwortlich ist, aber nochmal eine Zusammenstellung der schlimmsten Übeltaten und des Exzesses hilft dabei, nicht aus den Augen zu verlieren, wer eigentlich das Problem ist. Das Buch itself glänzt jetzt nicht besonders mit seiner Analyse, Recherchetiefe oder Stringenz; vielmehr ist es eine Aneinanderreihung von mal boden-, mal gottlosen Anekdoten, die sich in ein nicht besonders zusammenhängendes, aber eindeutig übles Bild fügen. Am spannendsten fand ich die Ausführungen über politische Verstrickungen von Ressourcenkonzernen, die einfach eine absurde politische Macht mitbringen und dadurch auch aussenpolitische Beziehungen massiv prägen oder Sanktionsregime umgehen. Es erzählt eher anhand von einzelnen Beispielen größere Zusammenhänge, wobei ein bisschen unklar ist, inwiefern bestimmte Dinge sich übertragen lassen. Gefehlt hat mit eine klarere Analyse wer die eigentlich Mächtigen und wo die Hebel sitzen, sowie ein stärkerer Bezug zu Politik. Es ist kein herausragendes Buch, aber eins was hilft, wenn man wieder etwas klarer sehen will, wo nochmal wirklich üble Machenschaften stattfinden.

[John Newton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book falls somewhere between two and three stars for me. The author reveals considerable corruption in the petroleum industry, mainly in terms of bribery, hypocrisy, profiteering and deliberate pollution. His final chapter, focusing on Neil Bush, seemed unnecessary and more like a personal attack.

[Patrick F · Rating 4 out of 5]

The seemingly tireless journalist, and former Washington editor of Harper's, Ken Silverstein has put out a book that is a rare look into the underbelly of the world of oil. In The Secret World of Oil (2014) Silverstein takes us through the world of middlemen, dictators, commodities traders, captured state governments like that off Louisiana; there is even a chapter on the former british prime minister-cum-PR hack Tony Blair. (This gives a lie to the idea that the Labour party in the U.K. is somehow less horrible and less in the bed of big business than the Tories.)

This book does a good job highlighting just how blurred the line is between the oil industry and governments throughout the world. Equitorial Guinea a tiny country but with outsized importance due to it's vast oil reserves - exports the more of it's crude to the US than any other country, writes Silverstein - seems to be a literal petro-state. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue who is the son of the countrys dictator, has made millions upon millions of dollars by literally creating oil taxes that get shuttled directly into private accounts that Teodoro has set up in tax havens such as those in Switzerland. Which reminds me: Switzerland openly shields away from any humanitarian responsibilities and seemingly lets private individuals park their un-taxed money there regardless of how they acquire it. They do this with nimbleness thus they are part of the UN but not part of the European Union which is more strict about all sorts of things.

The Tony Blair puts a name to the lie of meritocracy. Tony Blair makes untold - it is hard to find out how much he makes due to the creation of non-prpoits, subsidaries, and accounting regimes around the world that protect privacy - millions - $600,000 in just 36 hours in a particular crazy fact that Silverstain points out. “In March 2009, [Blair] traveled to the Philippines and raked in more than $600,000 for two short speeches. He thereby pocketed over the space of about 60 minutes what it took him 2 years to gross as prime minister." Blair goes and delivers sycophantic speeches touting improved human rights situations and spouts cliches about ambition, and what have you. Then: gets a big 'ol check, Rinses the dirty oil off his back and repeats. In 2011 alone, citing a Financial Times story, Silverstein wriets that Blair made $30 million "in speaking fees and for advising governments (like former Soviet republics with horrible human rights records and sham elections) and corporations."

The last chapter focues on the U.S. state of Louisiana where he illuminates the revolving door that is the oil industry and departments meant to regulate it. Louisiana, "it's political and business leaders played key roles in successfully pressing the EPA to classify oil field waste as "non hazardous" under federal rules for disposal and cleanup," writes Silverstein. A poignant and relevant fact: The oil industry is the industry that is accused the most under the Foreign Corrupt Services Act. Finally, the oil industry has "significant exemptions" from many different environmental statutes such as in the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act - the 'Magna Carta' of environmental legislation passed in 1970.

If you want to read about the dark world of middlemen, think-tanks solely created as PR firms for independent oil traders and former Soviet Republics than read this book. If you want a book that discusses the largest commodities brokerage firm in the world, Glencore which is "twice as big as Koch Industries," then this book is for you.

Oil traders, middlemen, corruption, stories of mansions and human rights abuses in the same chapter - all here in The Secret World of Oil.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a peek behind the curtain at the business part of the oil industry, still a major part of the world's economy.

If an oil company wants to start drilling in a "new" country, like Equatorial Guinea, or somewhere in Central Asia, all they have to do is go to the president or Prime Minister, buy an oil lease, and start drilling, right? Wrong; there are other officials who need to be consulted, and compensated, first (American law forbids bribery, but American oil companies know that it's part of the cost of doing business). That is why "fixers" are so important. They know the local political landscape, or they have connections to the right officials. They also know how much the company should pay in "rebates" or "commissions."

Your father is the leader of some small country, with lots of oil reserves (the national treasury is treated like your own personal bank account). Your biggest decision is what glittering residence will you visit, your Malibu mansion, your Manhattan penthouse, or your villa on the French Riviera. Also, which of your dozen luxury cars will you bring with you?

There are a number of ex-politicians who travel the world making speeches about oil. Former British Prime Minister traveled to Azerbaijan where he received $150,000 for a speech lasting less than half an hour. In it, he said nice things about President Aliyev, whose human rights record is pretty horrible.

Neil Bush, part of the Bush family, has a bad record in the oil business. His companies don't just fail; they tend to crash and burn. But the Bush name is enough for foreign companies and governments to pay him tens of thousands of dollars for introductions.

This is a very interesting look at the oil industry. The author actually traveled the world, meeting the people portrayed in this book. The reader will learn a lot, and it is very much worth reading.

[B. Rule · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to give up about a third of the way through this one. It is hopelessly unreadable. Silverstein attempted to write a muck-racking peek into the secret powers behind the oil industry, but he comes off as naive, unfocused, and lacking any common sense or judgment. Some of the things he describes are quite corrupt, but Silverstein blunts the force of his argument because he tries to put a nefarious gloss on every. single. detail. For instance, he accusingly cites an accountant's description of his services as increasing revenues and reducing tax burdens, as though he's just blown the lid off the conspiracy of the century. Gasp, he reduces tax burdens! Yes, like every accountant in the world... Silverstein will describe in painful, embarrassingly rambling detail every dish served at some dinner for oil execs. The fact that they had fish stuffed with crab and raspberry mousse does not make me think "oh god, the unbelievable excess and corruption!" It makes me think Silverstein has never been to a corporate luncheon. The book is rife with these types of inanities; e.g., a paragraph (on the first page, no less!) describing how somebody's cell phone is attached to an earpiece by a thin black wire - I mean seriously, does he get paid by the word or is this guy from Mars that he thinks we need this description? A lot of the "outrages" he lists involve very small amounts of money or behavior that would not raise an eyebrow. Occasionally the true story of corruption in the industry does peek through, largely through citing other, more credible sources. However, you'll read endless pages of stupid, breathless attempts to manufacture outrage to get it in this book. There's definitely a story to tell there, but Silverstein is too incompetent to do it. Seek out some other work if you're interested in the real scoop.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long time since spies were considered potentially glamorous, dashing heroes who could negotiate a high class casino with ease and panache, then neutralize dangerous international criminals in the same day. James Bond isn't dead, but he's no longer a spy -- he's an oil fixer.

Journalist Ken Silverstein tells of the hidden world of oil fixing, in which agents of oil companies and of governments grease the way to the dictators and strongmen who run the countries who control much of the world's oil supply. One agent Silverstein describes does discreet deals at an exclusive Paris restaurant. But he's just as likely to do the deals in Kazakhstan or Equatorial Guinea. Huge sums of cash change hands, as well as cars, jewels, shopping sprees for wives, and study visas for children.

It's a pretty interesting story, but by its nature, there's not a lot of confirmation or ability for the reader to check sources. We just have to take Silverstein's word for much of it, and the claims, while believable, are extreme. I found myself skimming the complicated ins and outs of the oil trade in Africa and Central Asia. I was more interested in the outrageous behavior of Tony Blair since he resigned as Prime Minister. He seems to be prone to making flattering speeches about oil dictators in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees. And Neil Bush, George W.'s brother is the most hapless oil fixer ever. Even with his close connections to two presidents and to oil companies, he seems unable to fix a single successful deal.

[Katarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by this book and excited to read it.

I know there are a lot of secret deals, dirty politics and corruption, same as in some other industries.
I was interested in reading about the behind the scenes players and dealings, but I found the book to be quite biased. from the writing style, and some of the chosen wording, you can tell the author's low regard for either oil companies or specific players in the industry.
This was disappointing for me. I was looking for more of an investigative report without the author trying to tell me what my opinion should be.

[Melisha Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very eye-opening account of the major players involved in the oil industry. I particularly liked the attention the author paid to the environmental impacts within the US, and the honesty displayed in much of the backgrounds.
I removed a star because I believed much of the writing style to be too matter-of-fact, and there isn't much explanation of the actions/lengths the US corporations would go to in order to do normal business.
I definitely recommend this book. It is a very infuriating with each page, yet I feel more informed than before.

[David Prager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of revelations here about the sleazy underside of the oil and gas industry. We will never get out from under the corruption of this industry until we free ourselves from this filthy and dangerous energy source, and replace it with clean renewables.
One star off for writing style, which I found to be rather dry in many places. Lots of acronyms, and I had to keep paging back to recall what's what. But the book is well worth reading.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The corruption detailed is appalling, but somehow unsurprising. There wasn't a great narrative or cadence (chapters sectioned off by person/entity to be explored), and this made the intake of historical facts/'stories' difficult to string together. If this was my field, I may have been very interested, but I have put this away for now in favor of something more enjoyable/interesting to read.

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Secret World of Oil by Ken Silverstein is an insider’s look into the oil industry. Silverstein is a fellow of the Edmond J Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. He received the Overseas Press Club Award as a co-writer of “The Politics of Petroleum.” He has also written for the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, Wallpaper, Washington Monthly, The Nation, Slate, and Salon.

Oil is that magical substance that you pump into your car as gasoline. You pay for that gas and the gas station gets its share, the oil company gets their share. The oil company then takes its money and pays for leases on foreign land and the crude oil extracted to the foreign government. That government then invests the money in education, infrastructure, and social programs. Everyone is happy and everyone’s life is improved by the magic of oil.

In the real world things are much different. There are Fixers, Traders, Gatekeepers, Lobbyists, corrupt third world leaders, and former first world politicians. Silverstein picks his people. Ely Cali as the Fixer who is the equivalent of a matchmaker. He knows the right people that the oil companies need to meet. Traders are represented by Glencore, previously run by Marc Rich (wanted by federal authorities until pardoned by Clinton in 1993), who buy and trade oil and other resources. Some conduct is illegal like buying Iranian oil and mixing it and reselling it because of the ban on buying and trading Iranian oil. The Gatekeeper is Bretton Sciaroni who now advises the Cambodian government. He previously served as Reagan's chief consul on Intelligence Oversight Board although he had no legal experience. Sciaroni was dismissed after an embarrassing testimony in front of congress on Iran Contra. Now he controls access to the Cambodian government to companies after raw materials.

Louisiana, as a state, is used for the effectiveness of lobbyists. The rock star lifestyle of an oil “prince” is documented with the antics of Teodorin Obiang, the son of the Equatorial Guinea leader. Equatorial Guinea is the third largest producer of oil in Africa; 15% of the US oil imports are from Africa. Teodorin paying thirty million dollars, in cash, for his Malibu home is only the tip of the iceberg. First world politicians are represented by Tony Blair and Neil Bush. One thing in common in all these examples is corruption. Corruption is simply how business is done, and we buy it by the tankful.

Petroleum is too important to pay too much attention to how it gets to the pump. The Secret World of Oil goes into great depth in the few aspects of the oil industry that are chosen to be covered. To be fair, I believe this is a fairly accurate picture of the industry overall. There is, no doubt, instances of more and less corruption and greed, but this is a believable middle ground. I have never been a fan of big oil, in fact I don’t drive a car. I do know bicycle tires, chain lube, plastics, and a host of daily products are all made from oil, but I do my best to limit my usage. I feel, and this book reinforced, my belief that by using oil products I am supporting the corruption, greed, and suffering that this industry brings to the daily lives of many people.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ken Silverstein's origins as an investigative journalist shine through in this intriguing look into the machinations behind the oil industry. Less a comprehensive account and more a set of articles on different aspects of the industry, from drill through the refinery to the gas pump, The Secret World of Oil gives a look at the corruption, opulence, and violence that go hand in hand with fossil fuels.

Silverstein provides something of a behind-the-scenes look at the industry, scoring candid interviews with a variety of eclectic figures and supplementing these with his own expert commentary. His investigations are intensive and factual, using multiple case studies and a good deal of statistics to uphold his arguments about the structure of the oil industry.

That said, at times The Secret World of Oil feels like a race as it jumps from character to character, country to country, and especially during the long opening chapters I found myself feeling a bit lost. Indeed, those early chapters felt somewhat superficial, although they were still littered with gems like Ely Calil.

All in all this was a good book and a must-read for anyone interested by the oil industry. Silverstein's behind-the-scenes info makes him an authoritative source - as long as you're willing to grapple with the few issues I mentioned above, you'll benefit from this.

[Daniel Lambauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not just about oil. It is about a range of secret worlds of rather rich people that make a living out of exploiting poor countries and out of shaddy businesses. It is the secret world that goes on to ensure we have petrol and energy. Admittingly I felt a bit jealous reading about the moneg commodity traders and fixers are making,but I also realised that I could just not so these type of jobs. Contains a really good chapter on the hypocrisies of Tony Blair ; and a reminder that Switzerland is basically a massive tax haven (particularly Zug).

[Ajay · Rating 5 out of 5]

An investigative adventure into a behind the scenes world of middlemen, extreme wealth and excess, and political corruption.

This is the type of book which is a must read for anyone looking to understand the complexities of the global oil / natural resources industries, international politics, and economics.

Highly relevant and intriguing, I already have many takeaways that will shape my investment portfolio and political views.

Definitely recommend.

[Nuyuryna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oil is not a commodity. It's a political weapon - Eronat

The book briefly discuss on behind the scene of oil business. How oil's business been running through politic and corruption's world.

It is simple and easy to understand

[Roxy Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like US Weekly for oil

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for school

[Haroon Haider · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative, well researched book, particularly it is the only book that tells all about secretive oil trader Ely Calil.

[Tra · Rating 4 out of 5]

People who have already followed the news on oil and consequent conflicts will not find much new stuff here. But since I haven’t, I found it a great read.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

قسمت‌های در مورد شرکت گلنکور و مارک ریچ و ایران قابل تامل بود

[Pedro Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half, good when it was good, but the last two chapters were less focused and interesting.

[Tom Lewandowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, probably extremely revealing if read when it came out in 2013 but most of the stories are by now pretty well known.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want some upsetting eye-opening in the direction of the problems of our current global and economic systems...

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

"The Secret World of Oil" is a comprehensive insider's view of the world of oil: from the crude oil extraction to the price at the petrol pump, this book is a fascinating account of the how's, the why's and the wherefore's of an industry that most people are aware of, yet know very little about.

The layout of this book was extremely user-friendly. Each chapter was about a specific topic: the lobbyists, the traders, the fixers (to name but a few.) Specific examples are given in each chapter and we are given a unique view into the world of price-fixing, government lobbying and many other topics and themes.

The author writes very well - although this is a weighty subject matter, Silverstein keeps the reader turning the page, not getting bogged down in minute details that can make many books of a similar vein very hard to follow.

I would recommend this book for anyone with an interest in the extent that people will go in the name of corruption and greed.


Paul
ARH

[Bob Reutenauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silverstein is a top notch investigative journalist. Alexander Cockburn was his mentor, and the two co-edited Counterpunch a cutting edge lefty muckraking sheet during the 1990s. Silverstein is not anywhere near the kind of literary stylist of longform journalism that Cockburn was... but as a deep digging source developing fact-finder he is unmatched. His short book contains six powerfully packed chapter bios of a series of shady oil trade fixers, finders, flacks, financiers and a Bush to boot. Worthy of a place on the shelf next to Steve Coll's masterful Private Empire: ExxonMobile and American Power (2013). Silverstein's reliance on the two 800 page whopper books by Daniel Yergin , The Prize (1992) and more recently The Quest (2012) suggest that I need to keep some room on that shelf for these two. Upton Sinclair's.. Oil (1927) is on the shelf too.. in the earliest best Muckraking tradition!

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I lost interest about two-thirds of the way thru and set this one aside a while ago. Coming back to it, I can't work up the energy to finish it off. The biggest detraction for me was, as i recall, the lack of an overarching narrative -- this is really just a collection of vignettes profiling various real-world characters who play different roles in the oil trade. The outrage generated wasn't/isn't enough to carry my thru.