Out of sight, out of mind. That's the general public's reaction to the crucial movement of oil around the world's oceans. Yet this vital supply chain that allows the world to function is constantly under enormous, largely unreported pressure. The uninterrupted flow of oil is essential to globalisation and increasingly so as manufacturing and markets move Eastwards to Asia. However, it is threatened by conflicts between nation states, pirates and global warming. All too often the movement of oil by ocean is something taken for granted by the majority of the world yet it is fraught with difficulty, and could haemorrhage global growth if issues covered in this book are not resolved or allowed to escalate. From reporting onboard giant tankers to looking at the geopolitical shift in oil consumption, Oil on Water is holistic, all encompassing and engrossing look at the way oil is moved and consumed mixing reportage, examples and hard-hitting facts.
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'East Asia's growing share of the 2 trillion tons of oil shipped each year across the world's oceans is one of the great, but little-told, stories of our age. By tracking this very literal shift of power from West to East, French and Chambers provide invaluable insights into energy security, environmental pressure and areas of potential conflict and cooperation.' --Jonathan Watts, The Guardian's Asia Environment Correspondent and author of When a Billion Chinese Jump
'An engaging and informed book about vitally important, yet little-discussed areas in business and geopolitics.' --Toby Webb, founding editor, Ethical Corporation magazine
'An insightful study of a subject vital to world shipping and trade.' --Bob Jaques, Seatrade editor
'An engaging and informed book about vitally important, yet little-discussed areas in business and geopolitics.' --Toby Webb, founding editor, Ethical Corporation magazine
'An insightful study of a subject vital to world shipping and trade.' --Bob Jaques, Seatrade editor
About the Author
Paul French has been based in Shanghai for many years as Chief China Representative of research and analysis consultancy Access Asia. He is a regular commentator of China and North East Asia on the international media. He is the author of a number of previous books including the well received North Korea The Paranoid Pensinsula for Zed Books. Sam Chambers has lived in China for a decade and his career as a travel and transport writer has taken him to the four corners of the country. He has co-authored a number of books including a travel guide to Yunnan and Hunan provinces as well as a transportation guide to the Yangtze. Writing for a variety of titles including the Sunday Times and the Royal Geographic Society Chambers follows very closely the day-to-day needs and demands of this rapidly evolving nation. After living in Hong Kong for many years he is now based in the northeastern city of Dalian.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By Gaurav Sharma
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Oil will continue to power global economies in the main for decades in the absence of a viable alternative taking off meaningfully, but have you given thought to how the crude stuff is moved globally. Odds-on bet would be that an oil tanker springs to mind - that bulky out of sight and out of mind metal behemoth crucial to the movement of oil around the globe. In a fascinating book - Oil on Water by Paul French and Sam Chambers, the reader gets an insight into the tanker transport aspect of the crude supply chain.
As the economic balance of power, most notably manufacturing, shifts to the East, so does traffic in shipping lanes in the general direction of the growing economies of Indian and China, the authors note. Joining their ranks is the age old developed world crude consumer - Japan, and regional oil exporters turned importers from Vietnam to Indonesia.
Club them all together, factor in China's dominance, bring out the empirical and anecdotal evidence, and the rise in South and East Asia's growing imports of the bulk of two trillion tons of black gold moving across global shipping lanes is becoming increasing visible. In this concise book of just over 200 pages, split by 10 chapters, French and Chambers begin by describing why the uninterrupted flow of oil is essential to globalisation and increasingly so as manufacturing and markets move Eastwards to Asia.
The book is part narrative, part reportage, part case study and part history. The authors switch seamlessly between describing their first hand experience on-board a crude carrying vessel, the history of the business and geopolitical concerns. Central to it all are the buzzwords of the modern day crude business - "energy security.... Read more ›
As the economic balance of power, most notably manufacturing, shifts to the East, so does traffic in shipping lanes in the general direction of the growing economies of Indian and China, the authors note. Joining their ranks is the age old developed world crude consumer - Japan, and regional oil exporters turned importers from Vietnam to Indonesia.
Club them all together, factor in China's dominance, bring out the empirical and anecdotal evidence, and the rise in South and East Asia's growing imports of the bulk of two trillion tons of black gold moving across global shipping lanes is becoming increasing visible. In this concise book of just over 200 pages, split by 10 chapters, French and Chambers begin by describing why the uninterrupted flow of oil is essential to globalisation and increasingly so as manufacturing and markets move Eastwards to Asia.
The book is part narrative, part reportage, part case study and part history. The authors switch seamlessly between describing their first hand experience on-board a crude carrying vessel, the history of the business and geopolitical concerns. Central to it all are the buzzwords of the modern day crude business - "energy security.... Read more ›
By Al Atsy
Format:Paperback
The most authoritative book on this subject I have read, written by two veteran, Asia-based journalists who know a thing or two about piracy. A must read for everyone in the commercial shipping industry.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Modern pirates
6 July 2010
By Al Atsy
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is the most athorative book yet on the scourge of the modern marine industry, written by two men who know a little something about piracy. I highly recommend it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read !!
1 Sep 2010
By W Morgan Bagley
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I do not usually review books I read but felt that this book by French and Chambers certainly warranted comment.I purchased the book after having heard Mr. Chambers speak at a luncheon in Hongkong and finding the topic very timely considering the world was watching the oil spill disaster off the Gulf Coast of the US and the large spill off the coast of Dalian, China. The book read like a novel rather than a scholarly tome. I could not put it down. The material covered was at once interesting, informative, factual and more than a little bit frightening.A must read from not only a financial standpoint but also from a geopolitical viewpoint.High marks indeed for French and Chambers.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction to a little-known subject
14 Aug 2010
By Edward G. Nilges
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Even if I had not been cited as a source for this book, I would unreservedly recommend it. It reminds me of the best of the Very Brief Introductions to a variety of topics from Oxford University Press, for this is a quick read which makes one at least feel terribly *au fait* about international oil shipping.
French and Chambers point out, based on exhaustive and numerate research nicely balanced by personal adventure, sailing on actual oil containerships, that oil has to get to its point of use, and that not only has the USA been dependent on imports being actually shipped, now China has joined this unwilling club.
I was also impressed by their combination of business "savvy" and a compassionately critical spirit alert to the downsides of the industry including pollution and the mistreatment of officers and crew.
Oil containerships, after all, burn low-grade fuel merely to keep their lights on and their DVDs running for their crews...who are often not permitted ashore. Officers are criminalized far too many times in accidents.
French and Chambers link the mistreatment of officers and crew to the long term viability of oil shipping as a business and that of the societies they serve, but also seem genuinely concerned about this issue. Too often, those who work in such unfashionable, yet critical, industries are overlooked.
Read this book if you're in any kind of business that is dependent on oil imports or merely curious as to the Leviathans of the sea which carry the black heart of prosperity from where it is found to where it is used.
French and Chambers point out, based on exhaustive and numerate research nicely balanced by personal adventure, sailing on actual oil containerships, that oil has to get to its point of use, and that not only has the USA been dependent on imports being actually shipped, now China has joined this unwilling club.
I was also impressed by their combination of business "savvy" and a compassionately critical spirit alert to the downsides of the industry including pollution and the mistreatment of officers and crew.
Oil containerships, after all, burn low-grade fuel merely to keep their lights on and their DVDs running for their crews...who are often not permitted ashore. Officers are criminalized far too many times in accidents.
French and Chambers link the mistreatment of officers and crew to the long term viability of oil shipping as a business and that of the societies they serve, but also seem genuinely concerned about this issue. Too often, those who work in such unfashionable, yet critical, industries are overlooked.
Read this book if you're in any kind of business that is dependent on oil imports or merely curious as to the Leviathans of the sea which carry the black heart of prosperity from where it is found to where it is used.
›
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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