It is interesting to note at this point the circularity of history here, albeit with a twist. Prior to 1973/74, the global oil industry had effectively been run by a small group of Western oil firms known as the ‘Seven Sisters’, as detailed in my latest book on the new global oil market order . These firms – comprised of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (which changed its name in 1935 to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, and is now BP), Royal Dutch Shell, three iterations of Standard Oil (Standard Oil of Californ ...