Oil is the most vital resource of our time, and because it is so important, misconceptions about the black gold abound. In this book, Maugeri describes the colourful history of oil and explains the fundamentals of oil production. He delivers a unique, fascinating, and controversial perspective on the industry as only an insider could. The history of the oil market has been marked, since its inception, by a succession of booms and busts, each one leading to the same psychological climax and flawed political decisions. Today we are experiencing a global oil boom that, paradoxically, seems to herald a gloomy era of scarcity combined with growing consumption and overshadowed by the threat from Islamic terrorism in the oil-rich Middle East. The author believes, however, that the pessimists are wrong. He debunks the main myths surrounding oil in our times in the second part of his book. Are we running out of oil? What is the real impact of Islamic radicalism on oil-rich regions? By translating many of the technical concepts of oil productions into terms that the average reader can easily grasp, Maugeri answers these questions, concluding that the wolf is not at the door, and that we are facing neither a problem of oil scarcity, nor an upcoming oil blackmail by forces hostile to the West. Only bad political decisions driven by a distorted view of what our problems are, and who is to blame for them, can doom us to a gloomy oil future.