Oil: From the First Wells to a New Era

Oil — “black gold,” the foundation of civilization or a source of environmental disasters?

Its value was known even to the Sumerians, but how did it become the key lever of world economics and politics?

On these pages, you’ll travel a centuries-long path—from the depths of the Earth to the present day, where oil is present in nearly every object around us, and humanity tries to find a reasonable balance between the benefits and the consequences.

Is oil an indispensable resource or a dangerous factor in global crises for the natural world? Even in ancient times, since the days of the Sumerians, it was used in a wide variety of areas of life. But when exactly did it turn into a central force that determines the economy and international decisions? Today, people are looking for ways to handle this raw material more rationally, and it’s hard to imagine everyday life without things made from the products of its processing. This book is a journey through human history, tightly intertwined with oil: from its origins deep in the Earth’s bowels to the coming of a new era.