Oil is an unusual commodity in that individual decisions can have an outsized effect on the market. OPEC+'s choice to increase production, for instance, might send prices falling, affecting both oil producers and consumers worldwide. What do the leading oil market players consider before making a fateful move? Oil Leaders offers an unprecedented glimpse into the strategic thinking of top figures in the energy world from the 1980s through the recent past. Ibrahim AlMuhanna-a close adviser to four different Saudi oil ministers during that period-examines the role of individual and collective decision making in shaping market movements. He analyzes how powerful individuals made critical choices, tracking how they responded to the flow of information on pivotal market and political events and predicted reactions from allies and adversaries. AlMuhanna highlights how the media has played an increasingly important role as a conduit of information among multiple players in the oil market. Energy leaders have learned to manage the signals they send to the market and to other relevant players in order to avoid sending oil prices into a spiral. AlMuhanna draws on personal familiarity with many of these individual decision makers as well as his participation in decades of closed-door sessions where crucial choices were made. Featuring revelatory behind-the-scenes perspective on pivotal oil market events and dynamics, this book is a must-read for practitioners and policy makers engaged with the global energy world.

As OPEC has loosened its grip over the past ten years, the oil market has been rocked by wild price swings, the likes of which haven't been seen for eight decades. Crafting an engrossing journey from the gushing Pennsylvania oil fields of the 1860s to today's fraught and fractious Middle East, Crude Volatility explains how past periods of stability and volatility in oil prices help us understand the new boom-bust era. Oil's notorious volatility has always been considered a scourge afflicting not only the oil industry but also the broader economy and geopolitical landscape; Robert McNally makes sense of how oil became so central to our world and why it is subject to such extreme price fluctuations. Tracing a history marked by conflict, intrigue, and extreme uncertainty, McNally shows how-even from the oil industry's first years-wild and harmful price volatility prompted industry leaders and officials to undertake extraordinary efforts to stabilize oil prices by controlling production. Herculean market interventions-first, by Rockefeller's Standard Oil, then, by U.S. state regulators in partnership with major international oil companies, and, finally, by OPEC-succeeded to varying degrees in taming the beast. McNally, a veteran oil market and policy expert, explains the consequences of the ebbing of OPEC's power, debunking myths and offering recommendations-including mistakes to avoid-as we confront the unwelcome return of boom and bust oil prices.

The author's first volume in the trilogy tells about his early youth starting with the Great Depression till the end of WWII. Volume II begins when he was thirteen and still in pursuit of what he loved best, youthful romances and wild adventures. Before reaching eighteen he'd had his fifteen minutes of fame, but not before encountering a variety of characters with switchblades, fists and loaded revolvers. Helping a couple of runaways put the author in harm's way, but even worse was an encounter with Sister Superior which eventually led him to becoming an escape artist. He was caught up with gang wars, love affairs and a striptease card game that could knock your socks off. After eleven years in grammar school the author finally graduated. He liked to physically show off, even to the point of hanging from tall tree branches by his toes. One Halloween evening he came up with a preposterous scheme that got so out of hand it took six police officers to hunt him down. His adventures were often dangerous but he always had the readiness to dare. Although his school life was disturbing, he had the patience to go the distance. More troubling was his love life. He always wound up disappointed, but while missing each girl he had the good fortune to believe that time was on his side.

This is the memoir of a modern day Huckleberry Finn who delighted in youthful romances and wild adventures. My earliest memories are about living on top of a hill next to a crematory and across the street from a cemetery during the Great Depression. The only people I saw in the immediate area were the members of my family and Mrs. Wagner, who lived in the only other house on the hill. A few times a day I saw and spoke with the crematory workers, as well as the bereaved who attended their loved ones' funerals. Occasionally I witnessed the wanderings of Gypsies, beggars and hobos. Down from the hill was my only playmate, Rosemary. For a two and three year old, the hill was a fun-filled place to explore during the daylight hours, but the evenings were different. When my father went out to bar hop, it became so quiet that all we could hear were automobiles driving by. Some cars slowed to a stop. My mother would say, "Someone is out there snooping around." It was a time when the cemetery held its dead while we held each other. Although the nights were often frightening, I loved the place and my girlfriend, Mary. However, in the spring of 1936 we had to leave our home so the crematory could replace it with a chapel. After moving I still longed to live on the hill. We soon relocated again, but farther away. In January 1938 at the age of six, I heard the good news that we were going home. It wasn't that we were moving back to the hill, but to a place I loved even more, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Here is where I was born, my Grandmother lived and what my family called home. I thought the town and our living space were in the country, not the city, and best of all, we were situated across the street from the county jail. The well behaved inmates were made trustees on Sunday mornings and given chores to do on our side of the wall. I always went out to greet them and for the sixteen months we lived there, they were among my best friends. When my grandmother died, we moved to Ridgewood, New York. I wanted to live in the country, but at the age of six I was not given a say in the matter so it was city life for me. However, by age ten my wish to live in the country became something of a reality when I discovered a nearby railroad and a field of rugged terrain. We kids hopped moving freight cars for short and long distances. In the field we captured garter snakes. Before long we discovered another attractive nuisance, a fenced in trolley yard. The barbed wire fence could not keep us out. We hooked up the trolley cars to the overhead electrical wires and with that power we drove them back and forth in the yard to our hearts content. Before I reached eleven I had fallen in love with four girls. Before thirteen I had dated two others, but something was lacking. Kisses. It turns out that's pretty much all I was seeking in this life. School was not a good substitute for this desire, especially because of the beatings the teachers gave me. The bullies didn't bother me since I could see right through these weaklings and they knew it. They stayed clear of me. On the other hand, I had to watch out for knife wielding and hatchet throwing "crazies." World War II put fear into most everyone, but it also brought us kids some fun. Air raid drills and blackouts were exciting, as was tracking down Nazi spies. My sister Judy and I discovered one living in our apartment building. Before long spies were popping up all over Ridgewood. I believe I have many interesting stories to tell about the 1930's and 40's. This first of three memoirs will take the reader on a journey that for me was dangerous, exciting, humorous and worthwhile. For instance, one evening when I had just turned thirteen we built a fire. The next day we returned to it, and came upon a terrible and startling find. Let me take you on my dangerous journey.

As OPEC has loosened its grip over the past ten years, the oil market has been rocked by wild price swings, the likes of which haven't been seen for eight decades. Crafting an engrossing journey from the gushing Pennsylvania oil fields of the 1860s to today's fraught and fractious Middle East, Crude Volatility explains how past periods of stability and volatility in oil prices help us understand the new boom-bust era. Oil's notorious volatility has always been considered a scourge afflicting not only the oil industry but also the broader economy and geopolitical landscape; Robert McNally makes sense of how oil became so central to our world and why it is subject to such extreme price fluctuations. Tracing a history marked by conflict, intrigue, and extreme uncertainty, McNally shows how-even from the oil industry's first years-wild and harmful price volatility prompted industry leaders and officials to undertake extraordinary efforts to stabilize oil prices by controlling production. Herculean market interventions-first, by Rockefeller's Standard Oil, then, by U.S. state regulators in partnership with major international oil companies, and, finally, by OPEC-succeeded to varying degrees in taming the beast. McNally, a veteran oil market and policy expert, explains the consequences of the ebbing of OPEC's power, debunking myths and offering recommendations-including mistakes to avoid-as we confront the unwelcome return of boom and bust oil prices.