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Pemex—Transforming a National Company

Chrisanthi Avgerou

in Information Systems and Global Diversity

This chapter studies the efforts of Pemex, the Mexican oil corporation, to develop effective information systems over the past four decades. The information systems innovation processes are discussed ... More

This chapter studies the efforts of Pemex, the Mexican oil corporation, to develop effective information systems over the past four decades. The information systems innovation processes are discussed in association with the broader struggles for reform in Pemex. To make sense of the significance attached to information systems innovation in the organization, the difficulties faced, and controversies that arise, this case study describes the links of Pemex with its national context, the international oil industry, and the international financial and political institutions. The analysis shows that the information systems innovation efforts in this company have reflected the struggle over its complex role: simultaneously an actor in a competitive market and the most significant asset for the country’s socio-economic development. Information systems innovation, aligned with the managerial efforts which increasingly saw the company as a free-market-driven business organization, was often in conflict with the powerful alternative rationality of its national role.Less

The Struggle to Control California Oil Production

Paul Sabin

in Crude Politics: The California Oil Market, 1900-1940

The overproduction that plagued California in the late 1920s and the 1930s was part of a recurrent pattern in the American oil industry. Between 1924 and 1927, the Federal Oil Conservation Board ... More

The overproduction that plagued California in the late 1920s and the 1930s was part of a recurrent pattern in the American oil industry. Between 1924 and 1927, the Federal Oil Conservation Board focused its efforts on inefficient methods of oil production and consumption. Major new discoveries of oil in Texas, Oklahoma, and California cast new doubt on the functionality of the national oil market. The indirect control of oil production through natural gas conservation proved to be a convoluted policy. Ray Lyman Wilbur hoped his Kettleman Hills work would provide a model for oil operators to replicate in California and around the country. Wilbur and George Otis Smith negotiated with, cajoled, and threatened oil operators for two years before they successfully created a unit to develop Kettleman Hills oil cooperatively. Politicians and California oil operators desperately sought sterner state and federal action to compel compliance with statewide curtailment of oil production.Less

Sources of Competitiveness of Large Mexican Groups

Robert Grosse and Douglas Thomas

in Can Latin American Firms Compete?

This chapter examines the processes of organizational adaptation and competitiveness of firms in an emerging economy. The study is set in the Argentine context of the 1990s when a combination of ... More

This chapter examines the processes of organizational adaptation and competitiveness of firms in an emerging economy. The study is set in the Argentine context of the 1990s when a combination of economic and political change triggered a massive change in the competitive context of indigenous firms. Two highly flexible firms from the pharmaceutical and edible oil industries are studied, and longitudinal data are supplied to explore the determinants of organizational flexibility in those organizations.Less

Urgency and Betrayal: Three Attempts to Foster Private Investment in Argentina’s Oil Industry

Nicolás Gadano

in The Natural Resources Trap: Private Investment without Public Commitment

This chapter focuses on three cases of incorporation of private investment into Argentina’s oil industry: Juan Domingo Peron’s attempt in 1954, Arturo Frondizi’s oil contracts in 1958–1962, and the ... More

This chapter focuses on three cases of incorporation of private investment into Argentina’s oil industry: Juan Domingo Peron’s attempt in 1954, Arturo Frondizi’s oil contracts in 1958–1962, and the industry’s reform in the administration of Carlos Menem in the 1990s. In an effort to explain the failed attempts to incorporate private capital into the industry and the reasons for the renegotiation and cancellation of contracts between the state and the oil companies, the chapter leaves aside the external framework in order to focus on internal issues. This chapter also explains changes in the roles of private investors—both domestic and foreign—in the Argentinean oil industry by focusing on events internal to Argentina. This approach differs from many studies of changes in business and government relations in oil and other mineral industries, most of which draw heavily on shifts in the international industry.Less

The Wizard of Oil: Abraham James, the Harmonial Wells, and the Psychometric History of the Oil Industry

Rochelle Raineri Zuck

in Oil Culture

This chapter examines how early publicity appropriated spiritualist themes to legitimize the fledgling oil industry by focusing on the exploits of the medium-turned-oilman Abraham James. It shows ... More

This chapter examines how early publicity appropriated spiritualist themes to legitimize the fledgling oil industry by focusing on the exploits of the medium-turned-oilman Abraham James. It shows that American spiritualism and the oil industry had more in common than just temporal and geographic proximity; they were both invested in a belief in the unseen, whether in the form of deceased loved ones or underground oil reserves. Drawing on biographical accounts of James and accounts of his work in Chicago (1863–1864) and Pleasantville, Pennsylvania (1866–1868), it considers how spiritualism shaped and was shaped by nineteenth-century oil culture. James and his Harmonial wells remind us of the practical applications of spiritualism and the psychometrics of the oil industry and force us to rethink widely held distinctions between the spiritual and scientific.Less

Picturing a Crude Past: Primitivism, Public Art, and Corporate Oil Promotion in the United States

Ross Barrett

in Oil Culture

This chapter focuses on an early sculptural monument—the Drake Memorial—commissioned by the Standard Oil Trust as the centerpiece of a turn-of-the-century publicity campaign designed to rehabilitate ... More

This chapter focuses on an early sculptural monument—the Drake Memorial—commissioned by the Standard Oil Trust as the centerpiece of a turn-of-the-century publicity campaign designed to rehabilitate the public image of the petroleum industry in the United States, as well as an early expression of a promotional discourse (petro-primitivism) that would inform much twentieth-century oil boosterism. The Drake Memorial, located in Titusville, Pennsylvania, was conceived as a symbolic response to the period’s intensifying concerns about the sustainability and social effects of oil capitalism. This chapter examines how the Drake Memorial created tropes of petro-primitivism that have encouraged generations of Americans to embrace oil—a resource long understood to be dirty, dangerous, and fleeting—as an entirely natural and unassailable component of everyday life in the United States and the boom-and-bust oil industry as one phase in an age-old and steadfast venture.Less

Transacting with Common Carriage: The Oil Pipeline Regulations of 1906

in The Political Economy of Pipelines: A Century of Comparative Institutional Development

This chapter provides a discussion on the oil pipeline regulations of 1906. The Interstate Commerce Commission was in charge of regulating pipelines. From 1906 on, oil pipelines were regulated as ... More

This chapter provides a discussion on the oil pipeline regulations of 1906. The Interstate Commerce Commission was in charge of regulating pipelines. From 1906 on, oil pipelines were regulated as common carriers that were obligated to provide transport service to all comers. The result of the 1906 Hepburn Amendment, coupled with the antitrust breakup of Standard Oil in 1911, was the rapid creation of a number of independent oil pipeline companies. Joint ventures continued to be a popular way to make predictable shipments among integrated oil pipelines. Over the century since the Hepburn Amendment, the oil pipeline industry has shown an almost complete absence of effective shipper pressure groups. After the consent decree, the oil pipeline industry continued to develop with a high degree of vertical integration and joint ventures.Less

The Future of an Economy Based on Oil Exploitation: The Mexican Case

José Juan González

in Beyond The Carbon Economy: Energy Law in Transition

This chapter analyses Mexico's energy sector from the following perspectives: the importance that the oil industry has had in the Mexican economy since it was nationalised in 1938, taking into ... More

This chapter analyses Mexico's energy sector from the following perspectives: the importance that the oil industry has had in the Mexican economy since it was nationalised in 1938, taking into account the role of this governmental monopoly as the main source of public income and its influence on social, economic, and technological development; the role of legislation in promoting or preventing the use of alternative energy sources to reduce the dependence on such industry and to deal with environmental degradation; and the role of the Clean Development Mechanism in promoting renewable energy. The chapter includes a revision of the compatibility between the objectives established by Mexican Energy Plans and Programs and the constitutional and legal provisions regarding promotion of renewable energy sources.Less

Unravelling of Keating’s plans (1976–99)

Amanda Slevin

in Gas, Oil and the Irish State: Understanding the Dynamics and Conflicts of Hydrocarbon Management

Keating's terms were introduced at a time when interest in North West Europe's hydrocarbon potential was at its peak due to large discoveries in the North Sea. Consequently, some politicians, oil ... More

Keating's terms were introduced at a time when interest in North West Europe's hydrocarbon potential was at its peak due to large discoveries in the North Sea. Consequently, some politicians, oil industry representatives and trade unions anticipated an economic boom in Ireland courtesy of oil and gas exploitation. This chapter discusses hydrocarbon activities onshore and offshore Ireland in the period from 1976 to 1999, connecting these with shifts in the Irish state's model of hydrocarbon management and oil companies' investment strategies. Progressing beyond empirical happenings, this chapter examines the growth in popularity of neoliberal ideology and its influence on Ireland's approach to its gas and oil. Attention to restrictions imposed on state companies like the Irish National Petroleum Corporation, and the encapsulation of a free-market perspective in the 1992 licensing terms, illustrates the impact of prevailing ideologies and global trade on the Irish model of hydrocarbon management. This chapter also considers the oscillating power of interest groups such as the oil industry lobby and the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and contemplates their interactions with different political parties and the state bureaucracy.Less

The Alteration of an Epistemic Paradigm by a Commercial Environment

Aitor Anduaga

in Geophysics, Realism, and Industry: How Commercial Interests Shaped Geophysical Conceptions, 1900–1960

Chapter 4 proposes that interactions between radio scientists and commercial companies for elucidating wave propagation in the upper atmosphere was not conspicuously different from those evolved from ... More

Chapter 4 proposes that interactions between radio scientists and commercial companies for elucidating wave propagation in the upper atmosphere was not conspicuously different from those evolved from seismic prospecting of the Earth’s crust in America. It contends that there was a predominant epistemic paradigm in crustal seismology in the interwar period—simplicity—which was altered because of the strong influence of a particular commercial environment, i.e. the oil industry. To this end, several steps are followed. Firstly, it shows how Harold Jeffreys formulated the ‘simplicity postulate’ as the basis for his probabilistic epistemology, embraced by several seismologists who developed crustal models based on mathematical idealizations. Next, it shows that there was a renunciation of simplicity in the 1930s, emerging too quickly to have been the result of new geological evidence. Finally, it demonstrates that the paradigm shift among seismologists was a result of the significant rise in seismic exploration generated by the oil industry.Less

The politics of environmental justice: community development in Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazonia

María Teresa Martínez Domínguez and Eurig Scandrett

in "Politics, power and community development"

This chapter is based on research and community work carried out in indigenous communities affected by the oil industry in both the Ecuadorean and Peruvian Amazon. In these areas local and regional ... More

This chapter is based on research and community work carried out in indigenous communities affected by the oil industry in both the Ecuadorean and Peruvian Amazon. In these areas local and regional socio-economic development programmes led by government agencies are often linked with the development of the oil industry, which implements community development programmes through its Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. This model of development, based only on the unsustainable exploitation of non-renewable resources, has increased poverty and environmental destruction and has failed to satisfy local needs and to create a diversified economy that could open new development opportunities for all the region’s social groups. Furthermore, this model is not compatible with the long-term cultural and physical survival of indigenous peoples. It is therefore necessary to pave the way towards a post-oil model of development that includes the views and proposals of indigenous peoples and other social groups in the region. Concepts such us ‘environmental justice’ and ‘ecological debt’ may help to challenge dominant views of development in the region by highlighting that the current model is built at the expense of unfair access to the earth’s resources and unfair distribution of human-led environmental impacts.Less

Introduction

Jon Birger Skjærseth and Tora Skodvin

in Climate Change and the Oil Industry: Common Problem, Different Strategies

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume, which is about the possible role of multinational corporations, particularly those in the oil industry, in addressing climate change. ... More

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume, which is about the possible role of multinational corporations, particularly those in the oil industry, in addressing climate change. This volume focuses on ExxonMobil, Shell and Statoil, which adopted different corporate climate strategies. This chapter suggests that the analysis of these three oil companies can provide better understanding driving forces behind corporate climate strategy choice and the influence of political context in the companies' home-base countries.Less

Understanding the Irish state’s approach

Amanda Slevin

in Gas, Oil and the Irish State: Understanding the Dynamics and Conflicts of Hydrocarbon Management

Nearly every country in the world has asserted ownership over the hydrocarbons within its territory (Easo, 2009) and Ireland is no different. Ireland's approach to resource management, however, is ... More

Nearly every country in the world has asserted ownership over the hydrocarbons within its territory (Easo, 2009) and Ireland is no different. Ireland's approach to resource management, however, is dissimilar to many other countries with outcomes that include the transfer of ownership and control of state resources to private interests and one of the lowest rates of government take in the world. The Irish model has also resulted in a prolonged conflict which has engulfed the lives of many people for over a decade. In line with Karl (1997), Dunning (2009), and Di John (2010) who emphasise the value of examining interactions between political institutions and the economy to understand how states manage their resources, and responding to questions raised in the preceding chapter, this chapter follows a critical political economy path to explain how and why the Irish state manages its hydrocarbons in the manner adopted. The nine key factors identified as shaping the Irish approach illustrate how the state's approach has been shaped by diverse and conflicting dynamics and moulded by micro, meso and macro level forces which intersect with specific ideological, political, economic and social influences to create a model of state resource management unique in comparison with other countries.Less

Enterprise Reform and Wage Movements in Chinese Oil Fields and Refineries

Kun-Chin Lin

in From Iron Rice Bowl to Informalization: Markets, Workers, and the State in a Changing China

This chapter focuses on the Chinese oil and natural gas industry, highlighting the growing variation in wages within the industry. This is a nationally important industry whose employees have ... More

This chapter focuses on the Chinese oil and natural gas industry, highlighting the growing variation in wages within the industry. This is a nationally important industry whose employees have hitherto been protected from market fluctuations and have traditionally enjoyed better than average wages and benefits. However, a state-sponsored restructuring divided the industry into a core of highly profitable companies and a group of noncore service companies. The noncore companies work under semi-feudal arrangements with the core companies, which have resulted in a duality of increased wages and job security at the core firms versus a high degree of employment uncertainty in the noncore firms. State-owned capital is the original driving force behind this transformation, although it has since been fueled by international capital, which has invested in the core, publicly listed firms.Less

Mixing Oil and Water: Naturalizing Offshore Oil Platforms in American Aquariums

Dolly Jørgensen

in Oil Culture

This chapter focuses on the exhibition as an important vehicle for the dissemination of official booster arguments about oil and for the articulation of more complicated perspectives on oil ... More

This chapter focuses on the exhibition as an important vehicle for the dissemination of official booster arguments about oil and for the articulation of more complicated perspectives on oil capitalism. In particular, it examines the strategies employed by contemporary Gulf Coast aquarium displays to refigure deepwater petroleum extraction as an ecologically beneficial activity. The chapter first considers aquariums as places of learning before discussing the public presentation of the offshore ecosystem in relation to Rigs-to-Reefs programs, which allow the conversion of offshore oil platforms into artificial reefs after they are decommissioned from active use. It then considers aquarium exhibits of Gulf of Mexico tanks highlighting the contribution of the oil industry to the Gulf’s ecosystem, along with an exhibit in California, and places these displays within the specific social and political context of the Rigs-to-Reefs program. It shows why aquariums developed hybrid schemes that mixed oil and water to represent marine life in the region.Less

Oil, Chiefly Offshore

David M. Williams and Andrew P. White

in A Select Bibliography of British and Irish University Theses about Maritime History, 1792-1990

A bibliography of post-graduate theses concerning Oil, subdivided into Historical and Modern Studies, and exploring the topics as follows: Seabed Exploitation; Offshore Operations; the North Sea; and ... More

A bibliography of post-graduate theses concerning Oil, subdivided into Historical and Modern Studies, and exploring the topics as follows: Seabed Exploitation; Offshore Operations; the North Sea; and Other Locations.Less

The Contested Politics of Iraq’s Oil Wealth

Philippe Le Billon

in The Legacy of Iraq: From the 2003 War to the 'Islamic State'

The Iraq War of 2003 set in motion a series of events that was to have enormous consequences for Iraq's oil sector, its use by political factions, and the distribution of its revenue to populations. ... More

The Iraq War of 2003 set in motion a series of events that was to have enormous consequences for Iraq's oil sector, its use by political factions, and the distribution of its revenue to populations. The United States destroyed much of the Iraqi state, turned the country towards ill-defined constitutional federalism, failed to provide a stable security environment, and pushed hard for a liberalisation of the oil sector. This chapter discusses how a foreign take-over of Iraq's oil wealth and the application of neo-liberal policies — premised on the failure of statist policies, the inefficiency and corruption of the public sector, and the need for foreign capital — are at the core of the contested politics of Iraq's oil wealth.Less

Oil: An industry in trouble

Angela Penrose

in No Ordinary Woman: The Life of Edith Penrose

The chapter covers Edith’s research into the oil industry and multinational companies, and the rise of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including publication of The Large ... More

The chapter covers Edith’s research into the oil industry and multinational companies, and the rise of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including publication of The Large International Firm in Developing Countries (1968), which challenged the traditional theories of international trade and investment as they applied to the oil industry. She was the first to discover the significance of transfer pricing and tax avoidance. She started seminars on the international petroleum industry with Peter Odell and later with Robert Mabro, at St Anthony’s College, Oxford. Edith travelled extensively, analysing the impact of multinationals on the economic welfare of the countries in which they operated, focusing on the efforts made by governments to retain as much as possible of their economic and political sovereignty, while still benefiting from the resources and capabilities of foreign investors. By the time of the ‘oil crisis’ of 1973 she was considered one of the top oil economists in the world.Less

Petroaesthetics and Landscape Photography: New Topographics, Edward Burtynsky, and the Culture of Peak Oil

Catherine Zuromskis

in Oil Culture

This chapter examines two significant photographic exhibitions—the 1975 New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and ... More

This chapter examines two significant photographic exhibitions—the 1975 New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, New York, and a 2009 traveling exhibition of Edward Burtynsky’s photographs of oil landscapes, entitled Burtynsky: Oil. It employs the two exhibitions to explore the quiet resonances of unease and anxiety that structure contemporary landscape photographers’ visions of petromodernity. It considers what landscape photography does to frame both the oil industry and the pervasive petroculture it supports on both a political and an affective level. It also discusses landscape photography in relation to petro-postmodernity and petroaesthetics. It argues that both New Topographics and Burtynsky’s Oil offer insight into the “structures of feeling” that define life in the West in the age of oil.Less