Maugeri, Leonardo 1964-

views updated

Maugeri, Leonardo 1964-

PERSONAL:

Born 1964, in Florence, Italy. Education: Holds an undergraduate degree and a Ph.D.; also attended London School of Economics and Georgetown University.

CAREER:

Businessperson and writer. ENI (oil and gas company), joined company in 1994, assistant to the managing director 1995-98, director of strategic studies and international relations from 1999-2000; director of strategy and development, c. 2001—. Board member of Polimeri Europa SpA, Italgas, and the Mattei Foundation. Also senior fellow of the World Economic Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA; the Foreign Policy Association, New York, NY; and the Rand Business Forum, Los Angeles, CA.

WRITINGS:

L'arma del Petrolio: Questione Petrolifera Globale, Guerra Fredda e Politica Italiana Nella Vicenda di Enrico Mattei, preface by Ennio Di Nolfo, Loggia de' Lanzi (Florence, Italy), 1994.

Petrolio, Sperling & Kupfer (Milan, Italy), 2001.

The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History, and Future of the World's Most Controversial Resource, Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, Science, Wall Street Journal, and Oil & Gas Journal.

SIDELIGHTS:

With a long career in the oil and gas industry, Leonardo Maugeri is considered an international expert on worldwide issues concerning oil and gas. He is also the author of The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History, and Future of the World's Most Controversial Resource. In his book, the author lays out the history of the oil and gas industry from how it first developed to the intricacies of how it works today. In addition, he discusses the industry's future. The author also examines the industry's boom-and-bust cycles as part of an effort to debunk current fears concerning oil and its availability. Other current concerns regarding the industry also come under Maugeri's critical eye with a focus on the potentially negative impact of political influences. "Maugeri … sets out to debunk petro-pessimists who argue that the age of oil is coming to an end," wrote John Russell in the Library Journal. Russell went on to write that the author's "approach is not academic." Several reviewers noted the contentiousness of Maugeri's subject matter and the fact that not everyone will agree with his analysis. For example, Jay Freeman, writing in Booklist, commented that certain groups, such as environmentalists, may dispute some of Maugeri's account, as well as his facts, but added: "Still, this is a valuable effort to explain the issues."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August 1, 2006, Jay Freeman, review of The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History, and Future of the World's Most Controversial Resource, p. 21.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, January 1, 2007, W.C. Peters, review of The Age of Oil, p. 861.

Harvard Business Review, September 1, 2006, John T. Landry, review of The Age of Oil, p. 32.

Library Journal, September 1, 2006, John Russell, review of The Age of Oil, p. 165.

SciTech Book News, September 1, 2006, review of The Age of Oil.