Pétrole

Modern imperialism springs from the interaction of the geopolitical and economic logics. The international oil industry offers an ideal case study of this connection. The links between nation states and multinational oil companies have been close and mutually advantageous.

Petrodollars – the dollars accumulated by oil-producing countries as revenues for oil exports – are usually considered key to our understanding of the renewal and transformation of US power during the 1970s.

While energy use has appeared historically consequent for most of human history, it now seems energy non-use may determine our future. It is clear that the worst effects of climate change can only be averted if vast quantities of fossil fuels go unburnt.

This paper traces the history of oil being reined in by the British Raj, from the 1870s to the early 20^th C. I argue that oil is not a self-evident object, but a category built by regimes of thought.

Enjeu majeur pour la recherche en histoire des hydrocarbures, la difficulté d'accès aux sources archivistiques, notamment issues des entreprises, limite le champ d’exploration des chercheurs.

When oil was found in water depths larger than 150 meters in the North Sea in the 1970s, a new and revolutionary concept was needed to be able to support deck structures for production of petroleum.