Seven Sisters (oil companies)
The Seven Sisters of the petroleum industry is a term coined by an Italian
entrepreneur, Enrico Mattei,[1] that refers to seven oil companies that
dominated mid
20th century oil production, refining, and distribution.Origin and makeup The
Seven Sisters consisted of three companies formed by the breakup by the U.S.
Government of Standard Oil, along with four other major oil companies. With
their dominance of oil production, refinement and distribution, they were able
to take
advantage of the rapidly increasing demand for oil and turn immense profits.
Being well organized and able to negotiate as a cartel, the Seven Sisters were
able to have their way with most Third World oil producers. It was only when
the
Arab states began to gain control over oil prices and production, mainly
through the formation of OPEC, beginning in 1960 and really gaining power by
the 1970s,
that the Seven Sisters' influence declined.
The Seven Sisters were the following companies:
Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso), which merged with Mobil to form ExxonMobil.
Royal Dutch Shell (Dutch / British)
Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) (British). This later became Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company (AIOC), then British Petroleum, and then BP Amoco following a
merger with Amoco (which in turn was formerly Standard Oil of Indiana). It is
now known solely by the initials BP.
Standard Oil Co. of New York ("Socony"). This later became Mobil, which merged
with Exxon to form ExxonMobil.
Standard Oil of California ("Socal"). This became Chevron, then, upon merging
with Texaco, ChevronTexaco. It has since dropped the 'Texaco' suffix, returning
to
Chevron.
Gulf Oil. In 1985, most of Gulf became part of Chevron, with smaller parts
becoming part of BP and Cumberland Farms, in what was, at that time, the
largest
merger in world history. A network of stations in the northeastern United
States still bears this name.
Texaco. Merged with Chevron in 2001. The merged company was known for a time as
ChevronTexaco, but in 2005, changed its name back to Chevron. Texaco
remains a Chevron brand name.
As of 2005, the surviving companies are ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell,
and BP, now members of the "supermajors" group.
The "New Seven Sisters"
On 11 March 2007, the Financial Times identified the "New Seven Sisters", the
most influential and mainly state-owned national oil and gas companies from
countries outside the OECD. They are:
Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)
JSC Gazprom (Russia)
CNPC (China)
NIOC (Iran)
PDVSA (Venezuela)
Petrobras (Brazil)
Petronas (Malaysia)
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