Crude power

"Oil has transformed the world and remains the most important resource of our age. It has made the wealth of millions of people - from Venequela to Norway via the Persian Gulf - and holds their futures in its fortunes. In the current political climate of the Middle East and Central Asia, where anti-Americanism runs high and the threat of terrorism in such countries as Saudi Arabia has left the world economy very nervous, oil is of prime geopolitical concern. "Crude Power" provides a comprehensive analysis of the world's dependency on Middle Eastern oil, and of the very dangerous way politics and economics play themselves out in the oil game - as producers and consumers tug at each others' interests. Oystein Noreng places OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), into its wider world context, and examines in detail how shifting oil prices affect everything from international trade balances to inflation rates."--Bloomsbury Publishing.