A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an Energy Dependent World

In 2006, world oil consumption will exceed one thousand barrels per second. The news marks an important change that will have a far-reaching impact on world economies, investments, and business profitability.

In A Thousand Barrels a Second, Chief Energy Economist of ARC Financial Peter Tertzakian delivers a provocative look at the future of oil and offers fresh insight into what it will take to rebalance our energy needs and seize new opportunities.

Tertzakian provides a unique analysis of shifts in energy trends, describing how past critical junctures-what he calls energy break points-developed, evolved, and shaped nations, changed consumer behavior, and launched or ruined businesses. With the world already consuming 85 million barrels of oil a day, Tertzakian answers the top questions that business leaders, policy makers, investors, and concerned citizens are asking him as we approach the coming break point: Are today's high oil and gas prices part of a routine business cycle, or are there more profound forces at play? Have we entered a new multi-polar world where energy is the primary source of geopolitical tension? Is China's growing thirst for energy sustainable? Which government policies work and which do not? Will nuclear power and coal save the day-again? What sort of global landscape will emerge from the turmoil? Tertzakian also offers a realistic, informedlook into the volatile future of our energy supply chains and how our consumption patterns will evolve, revealing how governments, businesses, and even individuals can meet the coming challenges with better solutions and innovations.

Serving as a sobering yet hopeful wake-up call, this book shows how the lessons of history will help us find our way toward a better, more secure energy future.

"Though written by an energy industry investment analyst and intended primarily for investors, this book makes a convincing, layreader-friendly case that the end of oil is nigh and it's time to get serious about energy alternatives now that the world is at 'the dawn of a new energy age' that will pit the U.S. against China in the struggle for oil. Tertzakian provides an excellent primer on oil's history, uses, supply chains and politics, including dozens of charts and graphs to illustrate the bleak outlook for oil's future. The future of energy, Tertzakian advises, is an amalgamation of increasing dependence on alternative fuels (biofuel, nuclear and green sources) and conservation. He admits conservation is a tough sell for big earners who will be able to afford the $4 per gallon gasoline will inevitably cost, but he notes in the same breath that low- and moderate-income earners and energy inefficient industries will suffer the most. His analyses of energy consumption cycles and their breakpoints and rebalancing periods (when a fossil fuel becomes too expensive or difficult to obtain and society must change sources to maintain its economy) lend factual heft to his outlook. Though the author neglects significant facts-such as the influence of the CIA in the fall of Mossadegh in Iran and the threat of global warming-the book should be required reading for policymakers." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Chief energy economist and investment strategist Tertzakian delivers an informed and provocative look at the future of oil, providing advice to those making multimillion dollar decisions about their businesses, investments, or economies.

In 2006, world oil consumption will exceed onethousand barrels per second. The news marks animportant change that will have a far-reachingimpact on world economies, investments, and businessprofitability.

In A Thousand Barrels a Second, Chief EnergyEconomist of ARC Financial Peter Tertzakianexamines the future of oil andoffers insights into what it will taketo rebalance our energy needs and seize newopportunities. He answers the topquestions asked by business leaders, policy makers,investors, and concerned citizens as we approach the coming break point:

• Are today's high oil and gas pricespart of a routine business cycle, or arethere more profound forces at play?
• Are hybrid vehicles our only solutionagainst high gasoline prices?
• Is China's growing thirst for energysustainable?
• Which government policies work andwhich do not?
• Will nuclear power and coal save theday-again?

Tertzakian also offers a realistic, informed lookinto the future of our energy supply chainsand how our consumption patterns may evolve,revealing how governments, businesses, and evenindividuals can meet the coming challenges withbetter solutions and innovations.

Peter Tertzakian is ChiefEnergy Economist of ARCFinancial Corporation, one ofthe world's leading privateequity firms focused onenergy. His background ingeophysics, economics,and finance, combined withhis entrepreneurial spirit,helped him rise from the trenches of hands-on oilexploration fieldwork to become an internationallyrecognized, top-ranked analyst with corporate andinstitutional following in boardrooms internationally.Tertzakian publishes ARC Energy Charts, a weeklysynopsis of world energy trends.For more information visit