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Oil 101 [Hardcover]

Morgan Downey (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews) |
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Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0982039204 | ISBN-13: 978-0982039205 | Edition: 1st
OIL 101 is a straightforward guide to oil and an essential read for anyone coming to grips with where oil prices, the economy and society are headed.

In OIL 101, Downey provides the facts one needs to understand oil, from its history and chemistry, to refining, finished products, storage, transportation, alternatives, and how prices are determined every day in global wholesale oil markets and how those markets are connected to prices at the pump.

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Frequently Bought Together

Oil 101 + Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology, Exploration, Drilling and Production (2nd Edition) + Oil & Gas Production in Nontechnical Language
Price For All Three: $145.53

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"industry must-read" --Financial Times, February 25, 2009

"I read a lot of books. A quick measure comes up with more than 10 ft of shelf space filled with books relating to the topic...of my collection only 8 books sit on my desk. Today I added another to that rather select group. It is Morgan Downey's "Oil 101"

...It differs from them, however, both in being focused not just on oil, but also in explaining more of the financial matters that play such a significant part in the price we pay for oil and thereafter for the gas that goes into the tank.

...This is useful not just to the neophyte.

...While providing some background to the debate on current world oil reserve calculations, he does not take a specific position within it. Given the nature of the debate, that is perhaps wise.

...the book will stay on my desk, and start to look as worn as some of the others."
--www.theoildrum.com, February 17, 2009

Review

"I read a lot of books. A quick measure comes up with more than 10 ft of shelf space filled with books relating to the topic...of my collection only 8 books sit on my desk. Today I added another to that rather select group. It is Morgan Downey's "Oil 101"

...It differs from them, however, both in being focused not just on oil, but also in explaining more of the financial matters that play such a significant part in the price we pay for oil and thereafter for the gas that goes into the tank.

...This is useful not just to the neophyte.

...While providing some background to the debate on current world oil reserve calculations, he does not take a specific position within it. Given the nature of the debate, that is perhaps wise.

...the book will stay on my desk, and start to look as worn as some of the others."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 452 pages
  • Publisher: Wooden Table Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0982039204
  • ISBN-13: 978-0982039205
  • Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 0.6 x 0.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Morgan Downey Page
Morgan Downey
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
107 of 108 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating Book February 1, 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Oil 101 is a fascinating book. It explains everything I wanted to know about oil.

Over the past few years with rapidly rising and falling oil prices, politicians, TV pundits and market commentators blamed speculators, OPEC, refineries and a host of other seemingly random events. I felt that everyone understood only tiny portions of the oil business. There was no single source which pulled together disparate areas describing oil. Internet searches for oil definitions yielded individual descriptions without an overall context.

Downey's Oil 101 brings all parts of the oil business together in a logical easily understood manner. The sequence of chapters is perfect and the author makes no assumption of prior knowledge. The index is so thorough that I use the book daily as a desk reference.

The chapter on the history of oil is refreshing and is very much worth the price of the book in itself. The book rose my interest to visit the world's first oil well in Oil Creek near Titusville, Pennsylvania where the modern oil industry started in 1859. It was certainly an interesting trip.

The book explains clearly how oil markets operate and oil prices change. The amount of useful information contained in this book is phenomenal. A more important point that I like this book is that the book is very interesting and easy to read. This is exceptional for a highly specialized technical book. I highly recommend Downey's Oil 101. Below is the table of contents:

Part One: Oil fundamentals
Chapter 1: A brief history of oil
Chapter 2: A crude oil assay
Chapter 3: Components of oil liquids
Chapter 4: Chemistry of oil
Chapter 5: Industry overview
Chapter 6: Exploration and production
Chapter 7: Refining
Chapter 8: Standards
Chapter 9: Finished products
Chapter 10: Petrochemicals
Chapter 11: Transporting oil
Chapter 12: Storage
Chapter 13: Seasonality
Chapter 14: Reserves
Chapter 15: Environmental regulations
Chapter 16: New engine technologies

Part Two: Oil markets
Chapter 17: Oil prices
Chapter 18: Forward oil markets - futures and swaps
Chapter 19: Forward oil markets - options
Chapter 20: Managing oil price risk
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46 of 48 people found the following review helpful
The oil industry from A-Z December 10, 2009
By RR
Format:Hardcover
As a commodity markets professional with over 12 years experience in the industry, I did not expect to gain a significant amount of incremental knowledge from reading this book. Boy, was I wrong!

From the first chapter which gives an overview of the oil industry to the last on the the oil derivatives markets, I learnt new information from seemingly every page. As I read through the book, nomenclature and practices that I had taken for granted in the business took on more significant meaning as I understood why they existed (e.g. why do US domestic flight routes use JetA and international routes use JetA-1? Because JetA-1 has a lower freezing point suitable for polar routes and because JetA production is more profitable to refineries as it can be produced in slightly higher volumes).

And given that oil is a commodity with global impact, it affects the industry practices for other commodities as well. Thus, an investment in this book has benefit outside the oil industry. I have subsequently bought copies of this book for colleagues who are also commodity professionals; it is that good.
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Oil 101 by Morgan Downey September 11, 2009
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent starting point for anyone - whether they are a student or a hobbyist, to learn in a clear, concise and systematic manner, about liquid oil exploration, production and use. This is not a high-level technical manual, but it does cover all the essential details; geology, engineering and chemistry of liquid oil and oil products. It is a well laid out text, it is easy to read and it would be a first choice undergraduate text for a one semester course for engineers, scientists and economists.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
THE book for understanding the world of big oil
This is THE book for understanding oil and oil markets. It will tell you more about oil than you ever really wanted to know. Read more
Published 1 month ago by B. Beck
A very good intro to oil and energy in general
I purchased this book when I inherited my office's energy analysis portfolio and realized that I didn't know much about oil let. Read more
Published 3 months ago by John Mc
Best single volume introduction to the industry I've seen at this...
I'm amazed by this book. It contains one of the most comprehensive and thorough yet concise descriptions of the oil and gas industry I've ever seen. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Adult Reader in Calgary
Excellent reference!
The best overview of the Oil and Gas industry in a non-technical language I've ever read! If you want the best introduction to with a global perspective this is the best book you... Read more
Published 6 months ago by David
A.A. degree in 364 pages..OIL 101
What could have been another text book tome on oil has turned out to be the best book I've read on the subject. No question about it... Mr. Downey knows Oil 101. Read more
Published 8 months ago by TJ SCHOENLEIN
Extremely thorough and well-written
A must-read for anyone starting out in the industry, as I am. Covers all the bases and is very well-written.
Published 8 months ago by Peter T.
Great prep for internship
I am preparing to start an internship with a Major Oil Company and needed to brush up on several areas. This book was wonderful! Read more
Published 9 months ago by Rodger Nelson
This is a great book
I work in a related industry and was familiar with some aspects of the oil patch. I learned a tremendous amount reading this book, the overview of oil from to to bottom, or... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Machin
Good introductory text on oil industry
For the absence of good introductory texts on oil industry this will probably be the best choice. However, if you are not an oil industry professional, you will probably filter out... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Alexey Sulinov
Must have text on crude oil. Doesn't miss a trick.
Book is a soup to nuts, A thru Z complete compendium on crude oil.
Great desktop reference text for everything you ever wanted to know about crude oil from history (TRC to... Read more
Published 13 months ago by qqqq
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