Book Club: The Frackers - Gregory Zuckerman
When I came across this book, I realized that I didn’t know all that much about the oil industry in the United States. Judging by the title it seemed like it’d be a great look at the history of oil production domestically coupled with some entertaining stories about the big characters involved. Fracking is a technique that was pioneered by some "small" oil/gas companies in the United States. Champions of fracking took massive financial risks (it didn't produce oil or natural gas for years) in attempts to profit from overlook and tough rock formations.
Zuckerman delivered, his storytelling was excellent and I found myself sucked into the massive ups and downs of prospecting oilmen. I was impressed with the amount of research and direct quotes from various industry players that were incorporated.
What drew me to this book in the first place was how ‘American’ this industry appeared to be. For me, ‘American’ business is not only the entrepreneurial spirit of starting new companies (everyone does that now) but more importantly risking complete financial ruin to build a fortune. I think we as a culture admire real risk takers, and back in the day drilling was as risky as it got. Strike a gusher well, become a multi-millionaire. Hit 10 dry wells in a row, have all your loans called and be publicly and horrifically bankrupt. There’s just something that draws me to stories about individuals with insatiable appetites for risk, win or lose.
One negative thing I will say, this book was way too long. I read about ¾ of the 300+ pages, lost interest and picked up another book. Overall though I certainly learned a lot about the history of the oil business in this company and really enjoyed getting to know some of the more eccentric drillers, owners and operators over the past 40 years.