[aldente]

On Matts website he takes pre-orders of a book that Matt Simmons is about to publish: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Twi ... esert.html

[J-Rod]

Yay! Just got my copy in the mail today from Amazon. Still warm from the press. No review yet, but just read the back, he gets great reviews from some respectable figures. Okay, I'm off to go dig in.

[slick50]

Bought it 2 days ago. There is a lot of material to digest, and it's very well documented. I realize I need to prepare for the coming economic downturn more than ever. 99% of the population does not have a clue about what's about to occur. I've told me children and loved-ones what going down, but I feel the only thing that's going to get anyone's attention is a crisis.

[aldente]

99% of the population does not have a clue about what's about to occur.

To be more accurate it is rather 99.9% of the population. So far I have not been successful in truly fitting in the maginitude of consequences of Peak Oil in the dominating patterns of my personal day to day thinking as much as I tried to do so during the last two years.

The effects and consequeces of Peak Oil and the accordgingly unfolding reality are truly incomprehensible on a personal level. Twilight in the Desert is the best PO book available since it is so down to earth and follows analytical thinking that is truly old school. It is not written from a personal level and yet readable as such.

[OilsNotWell]

Alb- Roger that. Don't forget...North American natural gas production is reported to be a pending immediate crisis; record, record, drilling yet production stayed flat or, by some accounts, fell slightly.

A hot summer and/or a cold winter and things will be very interesting. Very high prices...blackouts...mandatory power rationing and fuel switching looming? It'll jolt a lot of people up if that happens. I don't know if LNG can fill the gap quickly enough.

[OilsNotWell]

Just after I made the previous comment, a news post goes up about natural gas gains in the lower 48...hmmm....

Simmons has been, in the past, quite pessimistic about natural gas in NA.

[chuck6877]

No reviews yet?? I'm shocked. There are 9 reviews already on www.amazon.com.

I'm half way through with Twilight, and it is great. Hard to put down. Very well written.

I love the beginning of the book. It gives a great, interesting history of Saudi Arabia, its oil production, its politics over the years(Israel, US, etc.), its problems with its populations(unemployment, terrorism, etc.).

Then the book gives a great explanation of each oil field and how they have been produced over the years throughout history(when American companies were involved and now with Saudi Aramco) and how Saudi Arabia has reacted through political events(73-74 Oil Embargo, Iran Revolution, etc) Trust me it doesn't sound interesting but it's actually riveting.

Wonderful descriptions of each oil field. Wonderful descriptions of problems faced in each field throughout their production. It talks about how the fields may have been overproduced at certain times of history and the reasons why. It also gives great basic details of current advanced recovery techniques used to get oil.

I've learned more than I ever thought I would so far. Ghawar has been one bad a-s-s oil field! You'll learn a ton about this King of kings.

I'm a fact person. I like to see facts. They're there. Ghawar and the other giants are in bad shape. Let's hope they don't decline too soon!!!

I can't wait to read the second half of the book.

Any other reviews??

Chuck

[nuhax]

I got the book last week. This is a pleasure to read and a good one to keep on hand as reference.

I mainly bought the book to learn more specifics about the the oil industry in Saudi--the wells, the technology/processes behind recovering, capacity etc. and of course an analysis of the current and future state of things and how that fits into peak oil.

Simmons adds up meticulously the case of a twilight for Saudi oil. He relies mainly on his expertise and 200+ engineering/scholarly papers from the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

While this is an incredible resource it would have been nice to have some more information and evidence directly from insiders. There are quotes from insiders from published news reports and Opec pronouncements but there doesn't seem to be a turncoat willing to step forward with hard data (except as extrapolated 2nd-hand from the SPE papers). One is hard pressed to expect Simmons to be an investigative reporter interviewing the Saudi Deep Throat--he's an investment banker and energy analyst and he focuses on the only evidence available due to the Saudi Fog--indirect evidence which is digested, cataloged and analyzed like a detective. In the end he makes a comprehensive and compelling case that a Saudi peak may be at hand.

This book may be a little tough to digest at times for people accustomed to lighter reading but it's well worth it.

The first 100 pages of the book is fairly easy history reading, a narrative about the history of oil in Saudi. Of importance in this section is Saudi Arabia's rush to increase production in it's biggest oil fields. This was at a time when future effects of possible overproduction may not have been understood. This may have set the future

The next section of roughly 150 pages gets a lot heavier with helpful charts and illustrations. This is the part of the book I really found most interesting since I don't have a background in geology or the specifics of oil extraction and reserves. Simmons gets into the nitty gritty such as descriptions of the process of oil reserve analysis/data, details on the geology of the wells, drilling methods, types of capacity. There is a full chapter on Ghawar, another chapter on the second tier giants and another chapter on the rest. The following chapters discuss forthcoming exploration in Saudi and natural gas.

Finally the last part of the book ties everything together with the logic of all this comes together ie Aramcos lack of transparency, doubts about reserve claims etc.

I think most people will find this a highly rewarding read.

[PO_TimeCr0ss]

I've been waiting for this book for awhile. It looks to be quite good.

Anyone read it yet? This is my 1st Mathew Simmons book. Heck, its my first book on PO, period.

[ubercrap]

This is my 1st Mathew Simmons book.

I believe it's the only one he's written.

[PO_TimeCr0ss]

Ah, well then. I now own his only book.

[agni]

Ah, well then. I now own his only book.

Not only that, you own all his books!

[savethehumans]

Seriously, you need to get and read both of Richard Heinberg's PO books. Actually, any of us could give you a whole reading list! Simmons' book is no doubt powerful and detailed, but it may overwhelm you, technically. I haven't read it, so I don't know. But the guy's topic begs for technical explanations, so I'm making an educated guess.

Heinberg is a much easier read. I wish you'd read him before now, so you'd have that background. Let us know what you think of Simmons' book. He tends to think that the capitalist society can continue, with a few tweaks. But he's dead on about the oil biz. . .good to have him as part of the PO awareness campaign!

[I_Like_Plants]

I was going to say, get both of Heinberg's books, my local library actually had them. I've read both 2x. Just very good books. Jared Diamond is also good, and Guns Germs and Steel by him may be in your library since it's a few years old.

Deffeyes is very good also, good reading to learn that oilmen are not just "drill'n'pray" types, the oil industry has been on the leading edge of a lot of sciences, and for instance the Fast Fourier Transform was used years before anyone else knew about it, in the oil industry.

[killJOY]

I am two-thirds of the way through Simmons' book.

This book is not for new students of Peak Oil. He actually spends very little time explaining the phenomenon. It's clear he's writing to convince an audience of industry insiders and those already educated about Peak Oil.

I'm finding the book utterly fascinating. Simmons' writing is clear and concrete, though at times you run into stretches of jargon.

You'll like this book depending on how much you like reading about the behavior of individual oil fields. He goes through them, one by one.

Here's a very interesting thing I learned from the book; it demonstrates just how desperate the Saudis are to increase output:

Did you know that Qatif--a field of sour oil right on the Persian Gulf coast--which was worked to death in the 70s; subsequently shut down and used as a naphtha storage facility; chock full of TOXIC hydrogen sulfide gas; AND situated in a rapidly growing suburban area, is now being touted by the Saudis as its new star???? All they have to do is drill horizontally from off the coast into the onshore reservoir, and voila, this field will produce 500,000 barrels a day for 20 years. Simmons comments, dryly:

Had someone suggested to one of the old-time Aramco seniors hands in 1980 or 1981 that Qatif--a problem field throughout its production history--would resurface as "the next best project" in 2004 . . . I suspect the reaction would have included great surprise and a high degree of skepticism.

[PO_TimeCr0ss]

So far, I'm hooked. I think this is going to be a VERY good book.

As for being a peak oil n00b, I've actually been reading, studing, and analyzing EVERYTHING I could get my internet hands on for a few months now. I've spent countless hours reading about PO. (The g/f accepts it only because she knows its very important. ) So I think I'm prepared for this book.

Also, thanks for the other suggestions everyone! I plan to buy quite a few PO related books.

[PO_TimeCr0ss]

I have read 3/4 of Simmons and it is great!

However, there is no peak oil theory, no socio-economic analysis, nothing regarding impacts of oil shortages on agriculture, transportation, the American suburban lifestyle in this book. That's important stuff for a newbie but not the job of this book. Twilight in the Desert merely proves that the Saudis (and by implication the other major producers) are running out of petroleum, now. today. From that you might want to infer all sorts of other nasty stuff
pete

Exactly, I knew long beforehand that this book would deal strickly (and in great detail) with SA. And that's exactly what I wanted. Because as we all know SA currently holds the strongest hand in today's oil hungry world.

[Armageddon]

crossing the rubicon was my first p.o book. actually i heard an interview with ruppert about the p.o. subject about 1 yr ago and was so curious i have been reading and studdying it ever since. my personal opinion about p.o is that high energy prices will decrease demand, but the high prices will cause massive price increases in everything and cause a major economic crises which will make the great depression look like a minor recession. we are 2-3 years away from a major crises. the huge debt we have built up will make the crises far worse. the titanic is about to sink, and sink hard

[savethehumans]

PO_TimeCr0ss, Amazon.com has all the PO books, including in their new & used section. Buy PO books AND save money!