Dr. Valerie Marcel, Author
"Oil Titans: National Oil Companies in the Middle East"

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Dr. Valerie Marcel
Chatham House
10 St James's Square
London SW1Y 4LE
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Ninety percent of the world’s oil reserves are entrusted to state-owned companies. Originally created as political instruments, these so-called national oil companies (NOCs) face new demands amid today’s dwindling oil reserves and simmering social pressures. Increasingly, state-owned oil firms—particularly in the Middle East—must balance the political demands of their governments with the need to be commercially competitive. In this ground-breaking new volume, Valérie Marcel draws on unprecedented access to the politicians, engineers, and businessmen directing five Middle Eastern state oil companies to illuminate one of international industry’s most secretive yet powerful sectors.

The author tells the stories of Saudi Aramco, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, the National Iranian Oil Company, Sonatrach of Algeria, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Taken together, these oil titans produce one quarter of the world’s oil and hold half of the world’s known oil and gas reserves. Marcel explains the complex bond between each state and its oil company, tracing evolution of the companies from the politically charged days of foreign concessions to today’s world of profit-driven decision-making. Drawing on numerous and extensive interviews with company executives, middle managers, and oil ministry officials, Marcel identifies a number of surprising new trends in NOC strategy. She also paints a picture of their operating culture, capturing their nascent sense of corporate identity.

Contributor John V. Mitchell, a renowned oil industry analyst, puts the operations and culture of NOCs into a wider macroeconomic context. He shows how the hydrocarbon sector fits into the overall national economies and discusses how it must adapt to rapidly changing circumstances in order to offset economic weaknesses elsewhere.

Oil Titans provides rare and timely insight into how state-owned companies are striking a new balance between their national mission and their commercial needs. It provides an insider’s guide to their unique culture while demonstrating the critically important role they play in developing and maintaining their country’s economic welfare.

Valérie Marcel is principal researcher at Chatham House.