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The Petroleum Industry: Imperialism At Its Finest

The Petroleum Industry: Imperialism at Its Finest
Azra Talat Sayeed
Roots for Equity, Pakistan
October, 2007



“If human society is not adapted to its environment, it is not meant for this world” John Bellamy Foster, Marx’s Ecology: materialism and nature, p. 241.

Introduction
Oil and gas are only a three letter word but are responsible for some of the bloodiest wars in the world pushing lives of the common person into depths of poverty and misery. The lust for oil and other sources of energy including natural gas and coal is based on maintaining the vast industrial empire of the capitalist elite of the World, with the United States the biggest predator in the game. Today the world’s production rests heavily on machinery much of which is dependant on oil. However, the means of production are controlled and owned by the mega billion corporate sector. The overwhelming goal of the petroleum industry corporate elite is to control the world’s production base i.e. oil and natural gas and it drives the many wars and conflicts, globally. In essence, the profitable wheels of capitalist industry cannot churn without the presence of oil and gas. This hydrocarbon energy source is responsible for working of the entire machine-based production, distribution and marketing chain in nearly all sectors whether they are in the manufacturing, agriculture or services. Petroleum is used for all road-based transport, lubrication of machinery, making plastics, medicines, fertilizer, pesticides, paints and electricity among others. The big corporations who have a monopoly over oil exploration and drilling around the world have marked the world into zones earmarking those which are rich in oil.
The hunt for oil has taken its toll in three ways. On one hand, production agreements are made with countries who have known oil reservoirs and oil exploration is carried out ‘peacefully’ with the cooperation of the...