Category: Drama Publisher: Smashwords.com
ISBN-10: 1301715638
Type: Fiction
Copyright: Dec 2013
ISBN-13: 9781301715633
Price: $1.99 (eBook)
The Last Barrel of Oil delves into considerations which may seep into each and every mainstream individual as we progress toward a life without oil. Would we have the foresight to prepare now or will we continue to exploit the earth?
Richard Martin is an American economist and presidential advisor. He is concerned with the direction in which the world is being steered by the delegates of the oil-producing countries who are considering a reduction in oil production. Suggestions are being made that preparations to live without oil must be made now before we are down to the last barrel. Continued global growth has accelerated the reality and Richard Martin contemplates having to change his lifestyle and relinquish his hard-earned comforts. His wife, Sherry, is a beautiful, athletic, intelligent, and successful corporate lawyer. What more could a man want? Lately, she has not provided him the solace she once had. This worries her. Was there someone else? Was she going to go through this again?
As a university student, their son, Jacob, strives to show that he has the same economic prowess as his father. Desire for a mysterious, Nigerian classmate, Zaria, and an allegation of sexual assault threaten to derail his ambitions. His skeptical sister, Sophia, attends the same university and discovers secrets about her brother, mother, and father which shatter her already bleak outlook on life.
After reviewing research done by Jacob and Zaria, Richard Martin deduces that materials such as plastics will become more valuable as oil production wanes and plots with an Englishman, Brian Smith, and a Nigerian, Ajani Oni, to corner the plastics industry. He risks his marriage and career, so that he can stake a claim on financial security for his family. Nigeria is chosen as the test-market for the initial venture against the wishes of his wife who is unaware of her husband’s intentions. Then, a fateful business trip to the Delta reveals deep secrets and wreaks havoc on their self-absorbed lives.
Who will have the last barrel?
Excerpt
She thought for a minute and then mused “if you gave me a choice between living a luxurious life for a long or short time and living for a long time, I would choose life. I think that most people would. Now, if you look at the populations of the world, what percentage lives in luxury?”
Thinking of the question, he said that luxury was really a relative entity as what is luxurious to some, may not be to others.
“Well, if luxury was defined as creation of waste and the use of resources per capita, what would you say then?”
Richard Martin thought for a while. He knew the answer but the answer was contrary to present world business. After all, the intention of business was to create wealth. But was individual wealth of the few in the best interest of the many?
“Rich,” it was ironic that she would call him by his pet name at this point in the conversation, “most people want to live. Then if that is the case, if we simplify it, what do we need to live? Do we need the basics – food and shelter – or do we need toys, material pleasures, and man-made pleasures?”
Man-made pleasures - maybe this was the key to the way that the lesser-developed countries viewed the first-world countries; America in particular. He could think of a few toys that had sat unused in the garage of their house for many years. They owned six vehicles - two of which were restored classics that were bought as investments and only driven occasionally to keep the engines working. The two quads were used to hit the trails but they had not found the time over the last year. Only the Lexus sedan and the Range Rover were necessities.
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