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Contents
Prologue
Chapter
1. The ‘Jinni’ from ‘Arabian Nights’
2. ‘Sim-Sim’ and ‘Morgiana’
3. Golden Glitter and the Black Gold
4. The Gluttonous ‘Uncle Sam’
5. Tigris Tiger on Prowl
6. Mercantile of York
7. Exporters, Importers and Imposters
8. Beyond Petroleum
Epilogue
Prologue
Exactly a century ago, when oil gushed on 26th May 1908 from the Masjid-i-Suleiman
discovery well (of the then British operated Anglo-Iranian Oil company) in south Persia, no
one had any idea of the Middle East’s then unknown crude oil & natural gas potential, let
alone the foresight to predict that this region would in course of time, emerge as the world’s
largest provider of the most efficient natural energy resource, critical for growth and
sustenance of the global economy particularly in developed and developing countries.
Many pundits and pedestrians alike (including some in the petroleum industry) would have us
believe that “Oil is where ‘Allah’ is”. While that in sheer petroleum statistics terms and
individual or collective faith may or may not be true, it is essential to recall that Allah is
everywhere and so are his subjects in our world, but the petroleum habitat isn’t so.
It is interesting to recall that centuries before oil was discovered in Middle East, fortuitous
acquisition of windfall bonanza, wealth and prosperity formed the key aspect of folklore and
storytelling as vividly described in the famous tales of Arabian Nights, where the mythological
Jinni performs miraculous acts of wealth creation to what have you in a matter of seconds.
While this arguably and truly is indeed a figment of an imaginative and intelligent mind, it is
striking that many parts of Middle East today look like the pages from these fairy tales in
terms of wealth and splendour, unlike what they were for centuries before oil & gas
discoveries. The fact that this wealth and prosperity, primarily from oil & gas resources, have
come with lesser effort in relative comparison to other developed or developing regions of
the world, makes it all the more striking and tempting to fantasise the fabulous Middle East
crude oil & natural gas resources and attendant riches, particularly at the current inflated
prices as a handiwork of Jinni from Arabian Nights.
This book while amusingly fantasying the return of Jinni and coming alive of Arabian Nights
fable, underscores the interests and machinations of various players (real or perceived) in
pushing current petroleum prices beyond the pale of crystal gazers and proselytises, those
involved directly or indirectly in inflating the oil prices. It is also an attempt by the author as
someone from the petroleum industry, to highlight the undercurrents that loom large like a
Sword of Damocles on the heads of many net oil-importing countries particularly from the
developing world, in as much as it strikes at the very fundamentals and foundations of their
painstaking and steady march to an all round growth, prosperity and peace.
Reviews
LL Bhandari wrote:
"......I was fascinated to read this book beginning with Jinni from Arabian Nights and
intricately weaving the story with five 'D's of petroleum- Discover, Define, Develop, Deplete
and Divest. You brought in beautifully the entire gambit of habitat of oil, its discovery,
reserves distribution, global consumption pattern, peaking of oil, reserve to production ratio,
marketing at NYMEX and even Middle East culture with poetry thrown in here and there.
You did not forget your first love - Himalayas and its petroleum source potential, may be one
day we will discover another oil province.
You are indeed a gifted writer....."