‘If every Chinese family acquires a scooter, we will have a severe oil crisis.’ So said Lord Browne, the Chief Executive Officer of British Petroleum, in 1995.

Since then the Chinese have skipped the scooter phase and are rushing into the automobile age. In 2003, car sales in China rose by 70 per cent. The following year the number of cars in Shanghai crossed the two million mark.

Though India and China account for 40 per cent of the global population, at present they are burning only 12 per cent of the world’s oil. By contrast, the United States, home to barely five per cent of humanity, is consuming twice as much as India and China combined.

This important book examines the history and future of oil.