Your New Year’s Energy Resolution – Read “The Prize” by Daniel Yergin

The Prize is, by far and away, the most important energy book of our generation. Your New Year’s Resolution should be to set aside time to read The Prize.

In 1990, a relatively unknown energy and geopolitical analyst named Daniel Yergin, published “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power.” The New York Times described the book as ‘Spellbinding, irresistible and monumental….must be read to understand the first thing about the role of oil in modern history.’ The book became a number-one best-seller and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1992.

As a young oil and gas professional in 1991, I read all 779 pages of The Prize, as did almost everyone else at the time (including even my mother). Since then, I have re-read parts of this epic publication multiple times. Over the past 33 years, The Prize has been my favorite gift to friends, family, students and colleagues alike. In 2023, when I traveled to Bulgaria to meet the extraordinary energy writer, Irina Slav, my gift to her was a copy of The Prize! A few weeks ago, at a holiday party, an aspiring landman, just getting his start in the industry, asked me to recommend a good book about energy. I told him that after he had read The Prize, I would give him a list of other lesser books to read.

The Prize is often cited as essential reading for university students who are studying any type of energy related subject. I regularly lecture about energy and always suggest that if students only read one book, it must be The Prize.

“Written by one of the foremost U.S. authorities on energy, it is a major work in the field, replete with enough insight to satisfy the scholar and sufficient concern with the drama and colorful personalities in the history of oil to capture the interest of the general public. Though lengthy, the book never drags in developing its themes: the relationship of oil to the rise of modern capitalism; the intertwining relations between oil, politics, and international power; and the relationship between oil and society in what Yergin calls today's age of Hydrocarbon Man"

Prof. Joseph R. Rudolph Jr., Library Journal

Undoubtedly, The Prize is the most important book written about energy since “The History of Standard Oil Company” by Ida Tarbell, published in 1904. The Prize is more than just the definitive history of the oil and gas industry. This epic book tells the history of the modern world through the lens of petroleum, from the U. S. Civil War, up to the Persian Gulf War and everything in-between, including WWI and WWII. Victory in every major modern war has hinged on accessibility to petroleum.

“The Allied cause had floated to victory upon a wave of oil.”

British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon, Circa 1919

Therefore, it goes without saying, The Prize remains a powerful and influential tome, even 30+ years after its initial publication. This fascinating book should be intriguing to anyone that loves history and compelling for everyone engaged in any aspect of the energy industry. You owe it to yourself to read The Prize, even if you don’t work in the petroleum industry or don’t particularly like the oil industry. Reading the book is imperative, if for no other reason than to understand the impact of oil on the modern world, even in 2025. Two weeks ago, Yergin released an updated edition of The Prize.

For decades I have wondered why Yergin never produced an unabridged audiobook version of The Prize (actually, he produced an extremely abridged audiobook version, which does not do the original book justice). My profession as a petroleum landman requires me read a great deal. As I get older, I find it increasingly challenging to find the time and energy to read a 779-page book. Thus, I have often coveted an unabridged audiobook version of The Prize to listen to while traveling or working in the yard.

About five years ago, I sent Yergin’s publisher an email expressing my strong desire that they release an unabridged audiobook version of The Prize. Alas, I received no response to my suggestion from Simon & Schuster. Fast-forward to last February, I was recording a podcast with Stu Turley at the North American Prospect Expo in Houston. Daniel Yergin was sitting nearby, being interviewed by David Blackmon. I wanted to speak with Yergin about an idea I had for producing a unique audiobook recording of The Prize. However, Yergin slipped away before I had an opportunity to visit with him. Never fear, David Blackmon kindly connected me with Yergin.

Daniel Yergin

On February 11^th, 2024, I sent Yergin an email praising him for the greatness of The Prize. I stated that the book remains a historical treasure, even 30+ years after initial publication. I also told Yergin how much I wanted him to release an unabridged audiobook version of The Prize. The Prize is voluminous and I told him there would be distinct advantages to publishing as an audiobook, especially for people who travel extensively or don’t have time to read or have eyesight problems.

I speculated that the reason Yergin had never recorded an audiobook version of The Prize might be that it would be too expensive to pay a professional to read 700+ pages? I further mused that perhaps Yergin believed that audiobook sales would not justify the cost of producing such an audio recording?

In any event, in my email to Yergin, I proffered my opinion, there could be a huge untapped audience for an audiobook and I strongly urged Yergin to reconsider publishing an unabridged audiobook version of The Prize. I also floated another idea to Yergin….since The Prize is such an iconic book, I suggested that he should consider soliciting prominent energy professionals like Chris Wright, Mike Wirth, Mark P. Mills, Scott Tinker, Robert Bryce, Meredith Angwin, Toby Rice, Michael Shellenberger, Irina Slav, Mark Nelson, Vaclav Smil, Emmet Penney, Doug Sheridan, Alex Epstein, Scott Sheffield, David Blackmon, Stuart Turley and many others to each read a chapter of the book for the audiobook edition. I believed that these prominent readers would create a unique tribute to the greatness of The Prize. I even volunteered to help Yergin and his publisher locate and coordinate all of the required industry readers.

Two weeks, later I received a gracious response from Yergin thanking me for my high praise of The Prize and further thanking me for my encouragement to produce an audiobook edition. Yergin stated that having prominent energy leaders read chapters of the book was an intriguing idea, but implied that it would be impractical. Nevertheless, Yergin seemed to find my justification for publication of an unabridged audiobook to be compelling and persuasive.

Just so you know, on December 21^st, Yergin and Simon & Schuster Publishing released an unabridged audiobook version of The Prize, for which I have been waiting for 34 years….I have already purchased my audiobook!

Happy New Year and happy reading (or listening)!