Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil

Although Africa has long been known to be rich in oil, extracting it hadn't seemed worth the effort and risk until recently. But with the price of Middle Eastern crude oil skyrocketing and advancing technology making reserves easier to tap, the region has become the scene of a competition between major powers that recalls the nineteenth-century scramble for colonization there. But what does this giddy new oil boom mean--for America, for the world, for Africans themselves?John Ghazvinian traveled through twelve African countries--from Sudan to Congo to Angola--talking to warlords, industry executives, bandits, activists, priests, missionaries, oil-rig workers, scientists, and ordinary people whose lives have been transformed--not necessarily for the better--by the riches beneath their feet. The result is a high-octane narrative that reveals the challenges, obstacles, reasons for despair, and reasons for hope emerging from one of the world's energy hot spots.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Mariner Books
Published: 04/14/2008
ISBN: 9780156033725
Pages: 324
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.05h x 5.40w x 0.89d

Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 06/15/2008 pg. 24