For newer readers, in my initial years out of law school I worked first for a private law firm that did a huge amount of oil and gas work and later I was in-house counsel for the then largest independent oil company in America out side of the so-called "Seven Sisters" - Exxon, Shell, BP, Mobil, Texaco, Gulf and Chevron - the biggest oil companies in the world. Hence, I have known the oil industry from the inside - both the good and the bad. And, despite the rise of OPEC and set backs in some nations where thy saw their assets nationalized, in part often because of poor stewardship, the Seven Sisters (now diminished in numbers due to mergers) still have largely still ended up on top and still wield immense power. When you hear advertisements lauding the job creation by the oil industry or attack ads against politicians who want to tighten up on the oil industry - often run by the American Petroleum Institute - you are hearing the Seven Sisters at work. Interestingly enough, Al Jazeera is running a four part series on the history of the Seven Sisters and how they continue to control the world's oil supply. Here are some highlights (go to the article to view a video clip):
On August 28, 1928, in the Scottish highlands, began the secret story of oil. Three men had an appointment at Achnacarry Castle - a Dutchman, an American and an Englishman.
The Dutchman was Henry Deterding, a man nicknamed the Napoleon of Oil, having exploited a find in Sumatra. He joined forces with a rich ship owner and painted Shell salesman and together the two men founded Royal Dutch Shell.
The American was Walter C. Teagle and he represents the Standard Oil Company, founded by John D. Rockefeller at the age of 31 - the future Exxon. Oil wells, transport, refining and distribution of oil - everything is controlled by Standard oil.
The Englishman, Sir John Cadman, was the director of the Anglo-Persian oil Company, soon to become BP. On the initiative of a young Winston Churchill, the British government had taken a stake in BP and the Royal Navy switched its fuel from coal to oil. With fuel-hungry ships, planes and tanks, oil became "the blood of every battle".
The new automobile industry was developing fast, and the Ford T was selling by the million. The world was thirsty for oil, and companies were waging a merciless contest but the competition was making the market unstable.
That August night, the three men decided to stop fighting and to start sharing out the world's oil. Their vision was that production zones, transport costs, sales prices - everything would be agreed and shared. And so began a great cartel, whose purpose was to dominate the world, by controlling its oil.
Four others soon joined them, and they came to be known as the Seven Sisters - Exxon, Shell, BP, Mobil, Texaco, Gulf and Chevron - the biggest oil companies in the world.
In the first episode, we travel across the Middle East, through both time and space.
Throughout the region's modern history, since the discovery of oil, the Seven Sisters have sought to control the balance of power.
"We waged the Iran-Iraq war and I say we waged it, because one country had to be used to destroy the other. As they already benefit from the oil bonanza, and they’re building up financal reserves, from time to time they have to be bled."
- Xavier Houzel, an Oil trader
They have supported monarchies in Iran and Saudi Arabia, opposed the creation of OPEC, profiting from the Iran-Iraq war, leading to the ultimate destruction of Saddam Hussein and Iraq.
The Seven Sisters were always present, and almost always came out on top. Since that notorious meeting at Achnacarry Castle on August 28, 1928, they have never ceased to plot, to plan and to scheme.
Am I being cynical? I do not think so. One need only remember that Dick Cheney's Halliburton before all else was (going back many decades) and is a major oil services corporation totally intertwined with the Seven Sisters. The America public was played for a bunch of suckers and fools by Messrs Bush and Cheney.
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