Introduction to Special Issue on the Oil Industry

Abstract:     
This issue brings together five articles on the modern petroleum industry. Two cover the growth of the industry in the early twentieth century: Michael Adamson’s study of the development by independent oilman Ralph Lloyd of California’s coastal oil region; and the study by Lisa Bud-Frierman, Andrew Godley, and Judith Wale of the British entrepreneur Weetman Pearson’s operations in Mexico. Two articles treat the post-World War II period: Nathan Citano looks at the budding interests of U.S. oilmen in the Middle East and Daniele Pozzi traces the transformation of the Italian company ENI into an international oil firm. Finally, Keetie Slyterman examines the ways in which Royal Dutch Shell handled environmental issues from its inception in 1907 to the present. The issue also contains a survey of recent historiography on the oil industry in Latin America by Marcelo Bucheli and a review essay by James Bamberg on the recent four-volume history of Royal Dutch Shell.

Keywords: Petroleum, California, Weetman Pearson, Mexico, ENI, Royal Dutch Shell, Saudi Arabia

JEL Classification: L71, N52, N54, N55, N56, N82, N84, N85, N86

Accepted Paper Series