Oil is undoubtedly rather more than a mere hydrocarbon. It is a development factor an
essential element in energy balances a strategic weapon a resource characterized by unequal
distribution and also by unequal consumption. For more than a century now it has showed its
importance whether during periods of crisis or at times of strong growth. Under such
circumstances few countries have allowed mere market laws to operate freely. Whether visible
or discreet the hand of the State has been present in many cases depending on different
purposes and taking various forms. Hence national companies developed if only in order to deal
with the Majors and their greatly feared power. One finds examples of national companies both
in Western Europe and in certain developing countries that have substantial resources on their
soil. Those companies did not all experience the same destiny but they have sometimes
influenced the rules of the oil game. The colloquium held in Paris in 2003 («National oil
companies: history characteristics comparisons from the inter-war period to the end of the
20th century») provided some new facts and viewpoints in connection with this history still
relatively unknown. You will read contributions here from various horizons making it possible
to illuminate the present and the near future since oil industry issues continue to challenge
the world.
