The Oil Drum: Europe

re Engdahl.geopolitics

Perhaps the following scenario will help explain events and predict others.

These are core facts of the Petrogame that drive events:

Consider: A desert chieftan in the 1930's discovers that his territory has tons and tons of gold laying in countless veins just 100 meters under the sand. Almost unbelievably easy to access it merely with big shovels. As such desirable treasure is impossible to exploit secretly, what would be the single, over-riding consideration dominating his thoughts...from the moment he verified the fact of that gold?

Clearly his next-tentflap neighbors will be at once dazzled and obsessed with plans to make him the main course for their dinner .
As the lucky chieftan, he has certainty that he must obtain an overwhelming military force to squash the appetite of neighbors, before their plans mature and overwhelm him. All his attention goes to securing both the new wealth and his ownership of it.

Here lay apparent contradictions. Until late 1970's, Saudi Arabia had no real military forces at all ! No Army...No Navy...No Air Force...Only police and internal security forces. That defies sensibility because the chieftan in the late 1930s, and surely by 1941, had Standard Oil engineers verify the data demonstrating that huge pools of oil were in fact there. Knock a pipe into the sand, screw on a valve, make lots of new friends. Does not even need a pump.

It is impossible that there was no huge, military force immediately established to protect those deposits. But there was none...or was there?

There had to be, but it was hiddden. A powerful partner was there. There was a quid-pro-quo created where each partner held exquisitely equal leverage. If either party renegged, the other could cause disaster. The key to workability was the equal leverage which ensures durability of the arrangement.

The Oil Powers [dominated first by Standard and soon RoyalDutchShell and later BP ] were able to guarantee that the now RoyalChieftanFamily stayed on the Royal Throne, in exchange [1] for the Chieftan depositing his oil revenue monie$ into the Oil Power's banks; and equally strategically, [2] the Oil Powers led by Standard would retain overriding control of wholesale and retail distribution policy to extent of who would/would not receive the ultimate use of the petro products [oil and gas] and at what terms.

What was the OilPowers' guarantee? The US Military was [somehow under the control of The Standard] to be made available to guarantee continuity of the Royal Throne as long as the Throne deposits the bulk of their revenue$ in OilPowers, banks and does not withdraw said deposits; and obeys any production/distribution/marketing directions. Oil became denominated in US Dollars. As for the Throne's leverage, just their mere hint that $ deposits would be withheld or withdrawn would undermine credibility of banking systems. As the magnitude of flowing oil rose, the partners next agreed the USDollar would be the exclusive trade-currency. Each party had equal and credible leverage to enforce its position.
That is what happened in Saudi Arabia.

"Oil Powers" identities change over time, but are essentially Anglo-American. "Oil Powers" are not companies; they are individuals with similar goals who use oil/gas as a tool to enable strategy.

Petro-oleum = Rock Oil. Until 1859, it was thought to exist only as slow seepage from inside rock, in non-commercial quantities. By 1859 petroleum was discovered to exist in underground pools. This was quickly recognized by some as the ultimate source of Heat/Light/Power [HLP], in terms of cost, quality and efficiency.

Silliman at Yale University had done the first major chemical analysis of crude oil within months of its being found to exist in commercial quantities. Note the first use for petroleum, in commercial quantities, was lamp-oil for light [nearly white, non-smoking, portable and cheap] and the demand was worldwide, overwhelming even from Asia. Demand for light was later followed by demand as lubricant. Still later as fuel for steam production [e.g. ships]; later still as source fuel for combustion [gasoline] engines, space heating and electrical generation.

Wherever oil was made available, it could easily dominate as the source of HLP demand. Thus he who controlled its distribution could control whoever needed it...or whatever nation needed it. You want Heat? You want Light? You want Power? Either be compliant or be coldly in darkness and powerless.

A super tool to compel cooperation from any ruler. Or to find another who will. Control the ruler or create the new ruler, and let the ruler control the population. Best to select a Royal Family, as that means a predictable line of succession. The plan is old, but the plan has had many successes.

Early on, Standard's Rockefeller and Royal Dutch' Dietermann and the English Crown understood all of this. [England's Shell and RoyalDutch merged about 1900.]*

It is critical to include the fact that the OIL-game was merged with the BANKING-game. * *

As with Saudi Arabia, the similar deals made with Kuwait and other ruling-family-type governments. He who partners with the family controls the oil/gas as long as that family stays on the throne.

The deals all involve Standard [American] and Royal DutchShell/BP [Anglo] et al, who have similar, effective, covert control over their respective governments' forces [military and/or other contributions to the required force] to guarantee longevity of the ruler's status and similar production/distribution/marketing rights from the ruler.

So explains the saga of Iran's Shah. Democraticly booted out in early 1950's, quickly reinstalled by Anglo-American force, then booted again 25 years later. No more Royal Line = end of deal = OilPowers attempt in ANY WAY to stop/ruin any oil production/marketing they cannot control.

So explains the saga of Saddam. Non-cooperating [e.g. not denominating exclusively in USD] and no Royal Line.

So explains the saga of Kuwait when Saddam briefly took over. Who reacted very forcefully to put the Sabah family back on the Royal Throne? You can bet the Saud family was watching nervously to see if, in fact, Standard et al would make good the guarantee; after all, the Saud clan held the same guarantee with the same partner. The Saud clan breathed easy when Kuwait's Sabah family was returned to their throne [followed by abrupt end of military operation].

So explains some of the Czar's troubles. The Czar would not relinquish control of Russian oil [e.g. Baku] which really crimped Rockefeller's [Standard] and Dietermann's [Royal Dutch/EnglishShell] world-monopoly dream, and not-so-oddly, WW I did not end in Russia until 1922/1923; then government that followed the Czar was not ruling-family type, thus no predictable line of succession.

WW 1 ? Have a look at the territory of the Ottoman Empire at that time. Then, locate the known oil resources within that perimeter, factor in England's Lawrence of Arabia and promise of self-government to their Arabian allies for expelling the Ottoman rulers. Then watch what happened when the the Ottoman armies were expelled.

WW 2 ? Surely Krupp, I. G. Farben et al in oil-less Germany knew well the prize of Baku/Caspian. There's an old bio of Dietermann who, in 1920's, was quoted in English newsmedia, claiming that the resources of Russia would be the "greatest commercial prize in history", and that "Baku is the finger that points East" as he promoted another war. But the world depression from 1930 delayed the acquisitive Dietermann's-and-others' plan to jointly invade Russia.

So explains the saga of Vietnam. Offshore, oil/gas deposits were surmised because the geography fit the oil industry's working model of Continental Shelf theory [just GOOGLE "vietnam + oil" to see who/what is happening post-1975] but, after the French left, there was no possibility to control a petroleum industry. And certainly no ruling family after failed attempt to create a Diem clan. The thought of oil being independently developed and marketed was indeed a threat.

So explains the saga of all non-ruling-family-type governments' attempts to develop and market their oil. In the case of Mexico, albeit without a ruling-famly, Marines were sent into Veracruz and the oligarchs coalesced to rule extended-family-style since then; and being right on US border facilitates control. Those oligarchs who did not agree were visited by unlucky events.

So explains the saga everywhere a ruling-family has oil that can be produced and potentially marketed.

So explains a lot of other observations from circa 1880 to present time.

So explains why the petrogame of "I hold you by your heat/light/power arteries" is getting interestinger and interestinger. And wilder.

So explains the addiction. Oil addiction was created by low-cost, high quality, efficient and readily available fuel supply. The addiction was/is maintained by intense suppression of alternative HLP sources [e.g. by legislation; denial of funding; misdirecting R&D], along with theOilPowers closely monitoring all aspects of their game.

The petrogame is the means to World Domination by a small group who coincidently share similar goals.

Only petroleum [as oil and gas] can be harnessed in a way that precludes unwanted-others from joining the group.

No other HLP resource can be globally monopolized; or exists in sufficient quantity. The others are merely technology based, and technology cannot be monopolized. [E.g.-- a nuclear club to monopolize enrichment/extraction is a work-in-progress, but has only short-term and spotty workability that can be bypassed. Also there are local monopolies, such as control of hydro-power, that are not scaleable to global scope. As for coal, technology has not resolved enormous pollution aspects, and coal has potential only to crimp or tweak the petrogame.]

The above is a minimal framework to make sense of many events, especially since late 1800's, that otherwise seem crazy-quilt.

* In late 1500's, the English Crown realized its very survival was as seafaring-traders/sea-controllers and began (1) building a global navy and (2)collecting data, in earnest, of all known, global resources, first compiled by England's Hakluyt team. [Just 1 example so the reader gets the urgency: On 2,500 mile voyages across open ocean, lack of potable water caused entire crews to die and their ships become derelict. Thus sources of potable water in mid-ocean and the route for longboats to get safely ashore on the "unknown" islands, became vital secrets to be learned.] That viewpoint and project primed many subsequent adventures from gold-buccaneering, fleet-building and wiping-out the Spanish Armada on up to The East India Company and into more modern, more covert tactics. Long-range planning always evolving by trial and error and very covert. The small island-nation of England learned well its limitations as its Empire collapsed. Surely by the 20th Century, survival depended on correctly analysing its failure to control that Empire. The island-nation needed a giant proxy-nation to front for its Empire rebuild. Whoever might it be?

** By 1890, it was apparent that Big Oil, primarily Standard's combine, had the cash volumes and cash flows to actually rival and threaten the banking game. In late 1890s, Rockefeller and JP Morgan teamed to buy Carnegie's steel behemoth and form the US Steel combine. The cash price was about $490 Million, in 1890-era dollars ! The peculiar nature of the petrogame's grip on HLP offerred real assets versus the paper of banking, breaking the banker's peculiar clout that depended on being allowed to monopolize paper money. Further, while paper money dealt with sovereign currencies on a nation-by-nation basis, oil was a global tool.