Machineries of Oil

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The emergence of international oil corporations as political actors in the twentieth century is explored through BP's operations in Iran. Katayoun Shafiee argues that the development of the world oil industry was a significant political project of techno-economic development. She maps the infrastructure of the Anglo-Iranian oil industry from 1901 to 1954, detailing the organizational efforts required to transport oil through various technical, legal, scientific, and administrative networks. Shafiee reveals how the British-controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), later BP, utilized information management to turn political disputes into techno-economic calculations, ensuring control over profits, labor, and production. She examines how the alliances and connections formed within the oil infrastructure reshaped local politics and contributed to the rise of both nation-states and transnational corporations. Through extensive archival and field research in Iran, Shafiee investigates the interplay of nature, technology, and politics in conflicts over mineral rights, the standardization of petroleum expertise, profit calculations, labor practices, employee "Persianization," nationalism, and oil nationalization. Her analysis demonstrates that the politics of oil cannot be separated from its technical aspects.