Exxon, Gulf, Texaco, Mobil, Socal, BP, and Shell: five huge American companies, one British company, and one Anglo-Dutch concern dominated the world of oil for most of the century following the first Pennsylvania strike. How did this largest and most critical of the world's industries come under the control of these seven giants, and what will happen to them now, balanced on the tightrope between the demands of consumers and their partnership with the producing countries of OPEC? To answer these questions Anthony Sampson traveled the world from Houston to Vienna, from London, Washington, and New York to Tehran and Riyadh, interviewing sheikhs, politicians, and oil executives. His findings make a dramatic, engrossing, and urgently important book.