Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy. By Matthew R. Simmons

Reveals a Saudi oil and production industry that could soon approach a serious, irreversible decline. In this exhaustively researched book, veteran oil industry analyst Matthew Simmons draws on his three-plus decades of insider experience and more than 200 independently produced reports about Saudi petroleum resources and production operations. He uncovers a story about Saudi Arabia's troubled oil industry, not to mention its political and societal instability, which differs sharply from the globally accepted Saudi version. It's a story that is provocative and disturbing, based on undeniable facts, but until now never told in its entirety.

If you really want to understand why oil prices have risen and are likely to stay high for a long time, this is a must read. for some reason, americans feel as if they have a divine right to cheap fuel; we are 5% of the world's populationa and consume 25% of each year's oil production. as large parts of the world economy expand outside of the US, we will be competing for oil resources and since we produce hardly any oil ourselves, we can bid for oil at the going price or go without. The book is a call to arms for the US to realize the facts and do something before the crisis overwhelms us.