Book Review: Interviews add depth to commodity trading history
Protagonists in a world almost routinely described as ‘murky’ have proven remarkably open to shedding light on the industry’s less illuminated corners
When authors Javier Blas and Jack Farchy conceived the idea to write The World For Sale , they were careful to suggest that it would not be written as a ‘kiss and tell’. Rather, their interest was to write a social and business history that would hopefully find its way onto the new non-fiction shelves at higher-end bookshops. That there are relatively few books covering a group of people and their companies who have, in the authors’ words, "shaped history" is surprising. The wider industry’s primary texts have been Anthony Sampson's Seven Sisters and Daniel Yergin's The Prize, although the scope of both is more the IOCs and NOCs of the crude and refined products industries, while neither are

Also in this section
24 July 2025
The reaction to proposed sanctions on Russian oil buyers has been muted, suggesting trader fatigue with Trump’s frequent bold and erratic threats
24 July 2025
Trump energy policies and changing consumer trends to upend oil supply and demand
24 July 2025
Despite significant crude projections over the next five years, Latin America’s largest economy could be forced to start importing unless action is taken
23 July 2025
The country’s energy minister explains in an exclusive interview how the country is taking a pragmatic and far-sighted approach to energy security and why he has great confidence in its oil sector