The Oil Factor: Protect Yourself and Profit From the Coming Energy Crisis [Hardcover]

 

 

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Timely topic but discussions are focused on the US other than global. Today's changing world shifts its gravity to China and India, which demands more study and understanding as well. A sharp book on the changing global economic reality is this: China's Global Reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization by a Chinese journalist George Zhibin Gu.

Perhaps the strongest comments I can make about this excellent book is to note that the only negative comments about the book strongly support the Leebs' argument. Read the one star review "an interesting piece of fiction" to see what I mean. Here a putative reader from Champaign Ill compares the Leebs to Rachel Carson and Paul Ehrlich. You have to wonder why this is negative. Carson's arguments changed the way we look at the environment and that Ehrlich continues to write provocative works as a chaired Stanford professor says it all. If you want to tear down an artist by comparing him to Picasso, you are saying a lot more about yourself than the artist.
The same reviewer notes that worldwide oil reserves have been raised to slightly over a trillion barrels. Again were that the case then the Leebs' arguments and I am sure they would agree would be even more telling as a trillion barrels would imply that we are already past the half way point and that oil production has likely already peaked. My guess is that Leebs would place current reserves closer to 1.2 trillion, which would be consistent with peak in oil production within the next two to three years.
I have to admit I am curious about the identity of the reviewer, who professes a familiarity with the Leebs's newsletter and notes its poor past performance for making predictions. I have been reading Stephen Leeb's newsletters for many years and would place them among the very best. Curiously the only letter the Leebs (husband and wife) have done together is the most recent one, The Complete Investor (TCI), which recently won the award for the best financial newsletter. However this newsletter is still less than a year old. Yet the reviewer claims TCI- despite its award winning performance - has a poor long-term record. Curious to say the least. Clearly this reviewer has an axe to grind. Maybe I am being too clever here but I can't help but note that the reasoning (very poor) and style (flippant) of the comments are not dissimilar from those of Leeb's former newsletter Personal Finance, which since Leeb has left has gone down hill in a big way. I dropped a 15 year subscription to it about six months ago.
I conclude by saying again that if the worst you can say about a book turns out upon closer analysis to support the book, then the book is probably a darn good read. I believe that Leeb, though not always right is one of the most prophetic and provocative thinkers on the investment scene. This book has a decent chance to become a true classic and I rate it a must read.

It is speculative for the layman to predict global peak oil, but the fact is that human population and energy consumption grow exponentially, while oil production is linear. Only a matter of time. I find it highly coincidental that all the world's "terror" problems are concentrated in the exact same regions where all the important oil reserves are concentrated.

Best I can make of the Iraq War II is that our government and armed forces are securing cheaper oil by annexing it, than if we had to buy it on the open market, competing with the likes of Europe & Asia.

If you think ole King Hubbert was onto something, get this book for ideas on how to profit from it.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Geologically Right, Financially Half Right
I've followed the oil depletion problem for a few years. What the Leebs predict is already happening, it's not some crazy doomsday scenario. U.S. Read more

Published on Jun 20 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Reader from nowhere is an ostrich
(...)Not fiction, but fact. We're using far more oil than we're discovering. Production is increasing, but discoveries have trickled off to almost nothing. Read more

Published on May 31 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars An interesting piece of fiction
These doomsday scenarios are a dime a dozen. They're so easy to write, anybody can do it. You can always come up with data to support your apocalyptic conclusions. Read more

Published on May 31 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars The Oil Factor: How Oil Controls the Economy and Your Financ
Capital adviser Stephen and business writer Donna explain how investors can continue to make a bundle as they ride the petroleum economy into oblivion. Read more

Published on May 18 2004 by B. Viberg

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware of the Pivotal Role of Oil
The Leebs arm readers with an investment strategy to survive, what they see, as the coming energy crisis.

Energy is crucial to the world' economy. Read more

Published on May 11 2004 by Craig L. Howe

5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, informative and helpful
It is said that Stone Age did not come to an end due to shortage of stones. But the age of oil, the world's largest commodity, is likely to end, thanks to its limited supplies... Read more

Published on April 21 2004 by B.Sudhakar Shenoy

4.0 out of 5 stars Expect more to come about this topic!
I read this book last night. It is a quick read, quite repetitive, and tries too hard to be clever. Read more

Published on April 10 2004 by Pegnick

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of its kind
Unlike most books dealing with the approaching limit in the world's ability to increase oil production, this is a book that supports the view with both geological and economic... Read more

Published on April 4 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Glaring ommission?
I've read most of this book already and have skimmed the portions I have not read. I see absolutely NO reference to the oil reserves that supposedly lie in the Caspian Sea basin... Read more

Published on April 3 2004 by T. Holmes

5.0 out of 5 stars The peak of oil production and the fate of the world economy
There are many excellent books on the approaching peak of oil extraction (by Deffeyes, Heinberg, Goodstein, Youngquist, to name a few), but none of the books on this subject so... Read more

Published on Mar 17 2004

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