By U.B. Acharya
For any country, increasing its GDP is of utmost national importance. To fulfil this requirement, producing enough energy to meet its industrial growth is a must. Oil has been the major source of energy all over the world. This article by U.B Acharya is essentially a discussion on oil in India with some historical perspective and on a few other sources of alternative energy. No history of oil can be complete without a reference to “Seven Sisters”, a name given by an Italian oil magnate, Enrico Mattei to the seven major oil companies of the world who practically ruled the oil world for first 75 years of the last century. The first three companies are Standard Oil of New Jersey (EXXON or ESSO), Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony or MOBIL) and Standard Oil of California (SOCAL or CHEVRON), all by-products of Standard Oil Company established by John D. Rockefeller. Next two are also American companies called GULF and Texas Company (TEXACO). The two European companies are Royal Dutch Shell and Anglo-Persian Oil Company (also known as British Petroleum or BP). The French oil company named Compagnie Francaise de Petroles (CFP), a late comer, was the eighth step sister. These major oil companies formed an unholy alliance to carve-up the entire world’s oil production and market. Their combined act was referred to as “Dance of the Seven Sisters” and even most federal governments were at their mercy. Their monopoly was eventually diluted with the formation of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
