Deffeyes gives the reader a minor in geology without all the fancy terms and math, explaining how hydrocarbons are made in nature and where they come from. Anyone who thinks oil is being made today is correct but nature could never produce the amount we consume so it's a null point. The author covers all the bases that I'm aware of from initial exploration to production and on to alternatives. This is not the tome of a statistician but rather an education for the masses. Deffeyes makes the seemingly boring material fun to read and is on par with Brian Greene's ability to make physics simple.