Petroleum Politics 1951-1974

The Arab countries hide beneath their sands most of the world’s known petroleum, accounting for one-third of total production and three-fifths of shipments in interregional trade. The United States, with only 6 percent of the earth’s population, uses up as much as 30 percent of its commercial energy. Seven oil companies, five of them American, are among the 16 leading multinational corporations, their combined sales totaling $63 billion, or more than the gross national product of ...