From meager beginnings in Pennsylvania, the oil industry has grown into a powerful global industry. The oil business, encompassing exploration, extraction, refinement, distribution and the production of countless goods and services, has developed into a trillion-plus-dollar-a-year business. The market is controlled and manipulated by both public (shares are traded on stock markets) companies and national (government owned -- National Oil Companies -- NOCs) enterprises, and decisions to further oil profits affect the world on individual, societal and international levels. But the business of oil is conducted in secret, behind closed doors, and is often ripe with corruption and exploitationof both people and the environment. In short, the business of oil is a “dirty” business.

Read on to learn about:

• The Biggest Players, both public and national
• Global Business Dynamics, and how the oil market it shaped
•  Recent Trendsthat have influenced today's global oil balance
• Our Worldwide Consumption
• Big Oil's Accountability, and how some people are fighting oil's grip