In the beginning was Rockefeller - the world's first oil monopoly. Then came the seven sisters - Esso, Gulf, Texaco, Chevron, Mobil, Shell and BP - dominating the production, refining, distribution and supply of crude oil across the globe. The shift of power towards the producing countries, particularly the Arabs and Iran, was in turn followed by the collapse of the oil price. Two of the original seven - Gulf and Texaco - collapsed. The story of the control and exploitation of the world's single most important resource is told in this book.