The Prize: 8 key ideas
The core ideas of The Prize, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.
- IDEA 1 OF 8
Oil became the modern prize
Yergin tells the story of oil from the first wells in Pennsylvania in the 1850s to the late twentieth century.
He argues that oil became the world's most important commodity, shaping economies, wars and the fortunes of nations.
- IDEA 2 OF 8
Rockefeller built a giant monopoly
Yergin describes how John D.
Rockefeller built Standard Oil into a company that controlled most American oil refining. His methods brought order and efficiency to a chaotic industry, but also crushed competitors and provoked public anger.
- IDEA 3 OF 8
Government broke up Standard Oil
In 1911 the United States Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil to be broken into separate companies.
Yergin shows how these successor firms grew into some of the largest oil companies in the world.
- IDEA 4 OF 8
Oil decided the world wars
Yergin argues that oil became vital to modern warfare, fuelling ships, tanks and aircraft.
In both world wars, access to oil helped decide which side could keep fighting and which could not.
- IDEA 5 OF 8
The Middle East became central
Yergin describes how Western companies won concessions to explore oil in Persia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The discovery of vast reserves made the region strategically crucial for the whole world.
- IDEA 6 OF 8
Producers took control through OPEC
Yergin describes how oil-producing countries formed OPEC to gain more control over prices and profits.
Over time, many nationalised their oil industries and shifted power away from Western companies. Power shifted decisively.
- IDEA 7 OF 8
The 1973 embargo shocked the West
When Arab producers cut supplies in 1973, oil prices soared and Western economies were badly hit.
Yergin presents this crisis as a turning point that showed how dependent the world had become on oil.
- IDEA 8 OF 8
Modern life runs on hydrocarbons
Yergin describes modern societies as hydrocarbon societies, built on oil for transport, plastics and much else.
He argues that this dependence brings both prosperity and serious political and environmental risks.
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