Want to learn about advanced oil extraction techniques and the issue of peak oil while having fun? Then read this book. Prelude is an entertaining info-novel about oil.
Cassie is a talented young oil analyst and works for an independent energy consulting firm in Washington D.C.. To learn about the frontiers of oil production she flies to the tar sands of Canada and a drilling platform in the Gulf many miles from shore. She meets Victor after a concert and strikes up a friendship with him. Victor is an accomplished musician, but in the past he was an energy commodity trader. He believes that the times of ever growing cheap oil are over and introduces Cassie to the concept of peak oil. He convinces her that her boss has secret information that would confirm his ideas about peak oil.
Obtaining the top secret information proves difficult and dangerous. But Cassie is undeterred. She wagers her secure and well paid job, and possibly her life, to know how much oil is left in the world’s most crucial oil fields. In the end she discovers that information and data alone do very little to change people's minds. She moves to Vancouver B.C. with Victor to grow a garden and share a simpler life.
The story is a little thin. It lacks excitement despite scenes of suspense and fear. Cassie’s reasons and motivation remain unclear. Is idle curiosity enough to justify breaking into her boss’s computer and stealing information or betraying the professional trust her mentor placed in her? The story is driven mainly by her naivety, but wouldn’t an oil analyst know that accurate data on the reserves held in total secret by the world’s leading oil producer would be protected at all costs?
The issues of our times are frustratingly hard to understand, because it takes a great investment of training and time to comprehend their complexity. I congratulate Kurt Cobb on writing this story. He folded the deadly serious issue of peak oil into a pleasant read. Now his readers must decide how much poetic license he took with the facts.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
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