To the editor:
Philip Conkling’s review of Twilight in the Desert – The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy by Matthew R. Simmons [WWF Aug. 05] is perceptive.
Coming here since 1945 I am no stranger to Maine. We all have to realize that there is a bumpy road ahead for world oil supply: not just [an] ever-rising pump price but of availability. We Americans use a quarter of the daily global production, and are importing ever larger amounts. We are told the Persian Gulf area (where I have been) has two-thirds of the world’s light sweet crude, and then we have the eye-opening Simmons book, which I am now reading!
Many oil exporting nations are now turning into importers (think of such diverse places as China and Canada). A great number of refineries to process heavy oil from shale and tar sands despite high energy impact (read costly) will need to be built. Social and political discord will arise here for Mainers driving to work or for tourists, and also elsewhere across the United States and the world.
John G. Merriam
Harpswell