Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power

Coll provides readers with a comprehensive analysis of a great and powerful American company. You may not agree with all of the author's opinions or with all of ExxonMobil's business practices, but you are likely to be favorably impressed by both. If you are interested in the oil business, you will enjoy this book.

Informative, revealing description of how much activity both technological and political goes into pumping oil out of the ground and getting to the tank of your car. I think we should give more support to our oil companies after reading this

A very interesting book, fair, although the author is probably five or ten degrees left of center in his view of all businesses and all empires. I read it as an Exxon shareholder, for general interest on a long flight to Brazil, and because I think there are some real ethical issues in extractive industries. Exxon comes off as better than the worst but nevertheless a huge player in the questionable larger impact of extractive industries. I got a solid education in Exxon focus on return on capital employed -- I had in fact chosen the stock because its return on capital led the industry over all time frames, and roughly equalled long term stock return -- but I also saw the increasing challenges of keeping reserves up and growing. The book was very satisfying both to an investor and to a person concerned with the future of the planet.

Interesting. Informative. Covers tremendous ground. Generally sympathetic.

Exxon does have a secretive culture making it hard for outsiders to really feel the internal realities. Given this, Coll did a remarkable job of describing its actions. One is left, however with a sense that what is not described might be the most interesting parts of the saga.

It was a good read with ample well-sourced background of the oil and gas industry and key executives/players. I highly recommend this book to those in the energy industry for sure, and those students of management science,

ExxonMobil is an American Giant in not only in the Oil Industry but in Corporate American.The trials and tribulations of this behemoth and how its management has reacted to it is an interesting though lengthy read.

ExxonMobil is an American Giant in not only in the Oil Industry but in Corporate American.The trials and tribulations of this behemoth and how its management has reacted to it is an interesting though lengthy read.

I can only acknowledge the recommendation given for this book by the Financial Times. Although it is no fiction it reads like a thriller and gives deep insight in the interweaving of the global business with the politics.

Good.. Though it barely touches upon the control aspect that 'big oil,' has on the American economy. For example, in the USA, Baseball (The National Past-time) is huge.. But promoting Baseball, our nation doesn't go out and start Wars, and kill people, and occupy the person, place and things, of other nations, for the sake of Corporations here in the United States of America.

Their power is unfathomable to us small fish. Their arrogance is incomprehensible. Their loyalty is to money and stockholders. Their attitude toward the rest of us is one of absolute contempt. You need to understand how they think. Read this in self defense.

The book has a lot of great information about Exxon's operations all over the world and how the firm operates.

I did not enjoy the writing style of the author which I found to be preachy and judgmental. I also did not enjoy the unnecessary length and the decision to end the book with the BP disaster.

The author insinuates malice in several places in an unjustifiable manner. Nevertheless, it is a must read if you are interested in Exxon or oil and gas in general

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I expected shocking information showing the dark side of the company, but nothing of that happened...fortunatelly. This is a history of one of the largest corporation and its operations worldwide. Full of facts, nothing less, nothing more.

The author does a great job of explaining the culture and impact of Exxon/Mobil. Each chapter is a gem. Unfortunately, he needed to put the information he gathered more into context. You read the book and hunger for more analysis of what the facts he has described mean in the real world.

This is a series of anecdotes about Exxon Mobil strung together without much holding the story together. It's very interesting in terms of giving you information about how Exxon Mobil operates, but it doesn't make any connections or draw any conclusions from the large amount of data assembled. You won't finish the book and say, Oh yes, I really understand how Exxon Mobil fits into the bigger picture of US history, US business, global business, the oil industry. The company just seems to stick out there doing what it does, with no context. The author leaves each anecdote dangling, so the reader has no idea what the ultimate outcome of each decision or action or process was. For example, with all the human rights lawsuits against Exxon Mobil, what ultimately happened? You won't learn that from this book. The author did a huge amount of research, but didn't use it to help the reader really understand this giant corporation, the global oil market and business or the results of Exxon Mobil's actions long term.

Perfect condition. Came on time. Goods read on the history of ExxonMobil. Must read for anyone in oil industry. The detail of how the oil industry has come into being is extraordinary. Enough detail to tell a vivid story, but not too much to be unnecessary.

amazingly successful effort to educate, first a writer, then readers, about the history, economics, politics, and environmental consequences of the energy business in the last forty years. splendidly written. take the time.

The book is slightly anti Exxon-Mobil but it's still a good book. Lots of interesting information. Mr Coll did his homework + the study is well-researched. Personally I'm not anti Exxon-Mobil, but if the flag-burning-hippy-global-warming-noise-making-freedom-hating Hollywood Elites would read this fine book, they would discover that what they previously thought about this superb corporation is not true.

Excellent book on the complete history of the oil giant.

I give this classification bycause is a book that gives us the full story of petrol industry development, and as the great ignorance treated to make them disappear by pure envy.
That is the point that most interested me, as wanted by envy to remove the company of such great development for a company time ahead, and that by its sheer originality and very skilled people management made ​​moves that allowed go ahead and grow more, taught me that before there is mediocre to bow rather give a little of their own medicine, they do not have the ability to talk on equal terms with people vicion progressive and future but are myopic and want everyone to be like them but this book makes clear the power of intelligent intelligence and for that is that they have money, and the mediocre wants everyone to be like, ruined and poor losers , classic examples of leftist governments of L.A. who want to live from the smart money.
It's a heavy book to read, and done in seciones short so that it can digest and avoid boredom was the book in which I have taken more time to read it.

This book chronicles the rise of Exxon-Mobil, perhaps the wealthiest, most powerful multinational corporation in history. Coll skillfully tells the story in great detail of how this coporation gained world economic and political power, exerted pressure on the U.S. and foreign governments, and paid scientists to provide findings to counter authentic scientific research on global warming. The book is written in a style that makes it hard to put down.

PRIVATE EMPIRE is a must read for insight into the political and economic
struggles going on around the world. Acquisition and access to other countries
natural resources, exploitation of peoples and natural habitats is revealed
thru following individuals rise within giant corporations, consolidation and
contracting with existing foreign regimes, regardless of the impact on the local
economy and ultimately gaining protection from the US.
This is the stuff that wars are made of and our own infrastructure is steadily being eroded and destroyed for lack of investment in our own country. Why this book is not a best seller is amazing to me unless its existence is suppressed by
the same monied individuals and companies who claim to have integrity and responsibility in their dealings. We have already suffered failure by big
oil's misuse of and lust for power. All shareholders might benefit from reading
how their profits accrue and what sacrifices have been made in their behalf.

This book is very well researched and it contains a very balanced and fair view of the endeavours of one of the largest companies that has ever been created by democracy and free enterprise in its quest to develope American prosperity on behalf of its shareholders. It demonstrates how Exxonmobil is a company that has a realistic outlook regarding the left wing deception that surrounds the hysteria that has been created by the exaggerations of the global warming phenomena. Exxonmobil does not sign up to other people's principles regarding such things as global warming. This book demonstrates in every way that the former CEO of Exxonmobil Rex Tillerson is an eccellent choice as American Secretary of State and his training and many years of experience with the company will stand him in very good stead for the successful administration of his duties in one of the world's most vital and important political offices. This is an excellent book which is completely applicable to the present world political situation in which there has been an increasing trend towards right wing conservative politics. It demonstrates that in this modern world how the Left is becoming increasingly irrrelevent and that in order to prosper and survive countries both large and small must be run as corporations such as Exxonmobil. I believe that President Trump will successfully attain this goal as soon as he sorts out the mess that has been left behind by the previous non business oriented Democratic administration.
Tim Clifton.

Until recently, when GoldmanSachs emerged as such a deserving target of opprobium, ExxonMobil was, without doubt, our country's most-hated corporation. The two companies probably compete for that distinction today. Private Empire is Steve Coll's admirable attempt to explain how and why the world's most profitable private oil company became a pariah -- and to relate how the company has changed in recent years. Oh, yes, it has changed.

Unless you're under the age of 20, you were already highly aware of the ExxonValdez disaster off the coast of Alaska in 1989 -- the country's biggest oil spill until BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. You probably also knew that ExxonMobil is the direct descendent of the Standard Oil trust assembled in the 19th Century by the quintessential robber baron, John D. Rockefeller. So, perhaps it's clear how, when the company came into existence in its present form -- in 1999, with the acquisition of Mobil Oil, another Standard offspring -- it had already been rivaling its ancestor for public displeasure for a decade as a result of Exxon Valdez. ("Fortune had ranked the corporation as America's sixth most admired before the accident; afterward, it fell to one hundred and tenth.") It's pretty hard not to know at least a few facts about a company that's often ranked the biggest private enterprise in the world and supplies so much of the fuel to which we are so blithely addicted.

It's no mystery why ExxonMobil stayed so unpopular many years after the Exxon Valdez spill. A heavy-handed Texan named Lee Raymond set the company's tone and policy during his 12-year reign as CEO (1993-2005). "Exxon maintained a `kind of 1950s Southern religious culture,' said an executive who served on the corporation's board of directors during the Raymond era. `They're all engineers, mostly white males, mostly from the South . . . They shared a belief in the One Right Answer, that you would solve the equation and that would be the answer, and it didn't need to be debated.'" And, whatever that One Right Answer might be, it was closely held unless Raymond thought it needed to be made public. As one new employee he brought on observed, "the oil corporation's system for maintaining confidential information was far more severe than anything she had seen while holding top secret clearance at the White House."

It was Raymond's determined, some might say fanatical, insistence that scientists hadn't proved the reality of human-caused global warming that led the company to invest heavily in Right-Wing think tanks and other front groups campaigning against any proposals to regulate carbon emissions. Raymond's successor, Rex Tillerson, despite his similar background, proved far more resilient on the issue. He discontinued the corporation's support for anti-climate change campaigners and later took a high-profile public position in favor of a carbon tax.

Interestingly, "Rex Tillerson believed that transformational change would upend the oil business and global energy economy eventually. Breakthrough batteries might be the pathway, or breakthrough biofuels, or cheaper, more efficient solar technology, or some combination of those technologies, or perhaps something unimagined in the present. Not anytime soon, however. For two decades and probably much longer, Tillerson's Management Committee concluded . . . [that] ExxonMobil could feel secure about its investments in oil and gas."

Like Daniel Yergin in his excellent recent book, The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, Steve Coll debunks the notion of Peak Oil, quoting ExxonMobil executives on the significant evidence against it. However, what both authors underplay is that the large new deposits of oil and natural gas the companies are adding to their reserves, seemingly by the day, tend to require more expensive and environmentally more damaging methods of extraction. Peak Oil may not be a reality, but we're surely in for years of increasing costs, both financial and environment, to extract fossil fuels unless the leadership of the world's major countries manage to cap and then reduce carbon emissions.

Unfortunately, there seems little likelihood of that. ExxonMobil's own strategic plan projects rising sales of petroleum and natural gas at least until 2030 -- by which point the total load of carbon in the atmosphere will be so great that the world's coastal cities will all be likely to drown in rising water by the end of the century. (Name a big city: odds are 4 to 1 that it's vulnerable to flooding from rising seas.)

Private Empire showcases Coll's exhaustive research on ExxonMobil in its 704 pages. The book is structured chronologically, focusing on the period from 1989 t0 2011. Along the way, Coll constructs detailed scenarios that reveal the issues confronting the company in a number of countries where it sources oil or gas (or mightily tries to do so): Chad, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Russia, Iraq, and Qatar, among others, making clear that "ExxonMobil's interests were global, not national." Though the book is subtitled ExxonMobil and American Power, Coll makes clear that the corporation is anything but an expression of American power. In fact, he details the sometimes fractious relationship the company had even with the oil-friendly Administration of George W. Bush, despite Lee Raymond's friendship with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Private Empire is a modern-day testimony to the even-handedness of "objective journalism." Coll almost never reveals his personal feelings about the company and its misdeeds. In fact, the book will probably be read by some as an apologia for ExxonMobil. It's not: the author is just too good at ferretting out the facts. On balance, it's entirely clear why so many people hate ExxonMobil with such fervor.

Steve Coll is one of America's most outstanding journalists. He's won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his reporting on the SEC, the other for his 2005 book Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. Since 2007 he has worked as President and CEO of a Washington think tank, the New America Foundation, having previously served as a staff writer for The New Yorker and as an editor of The Washington Post.
[...]

A Pulitzer Prize winning New Yorker author writes a vast book about the largest corporation in the United States. You can picture the book, you say. Long on research, including large numbers of interviews with people who refuse to be quoted by name? Yes. Engaging distillation of technical information into a readily understood summary? Yes. Characters and scenes drawn with a cinematic vividness? Yes. Revelations that require the reader to rethink his or her basic understanding of the book's subject? Well no.

I spent most of the book's 700 pages waiting for The Revelation. The Secret. The...well, anything. This is certainly more the fault of my expectations than any deficiency in the book. But it is odd that the author would have spent such a huge amount of time and energy writing such a detailed book about two decades of ExxonMobil corporate history without a central theme. Maybe I have simply read too many books about the oil industry and spend too much of life reading business newspapers and magazines, but the general tale told in this book is very well known. What is less well known is the details of the various strands of the story, and those strands are told with exquisite detail, well supported by copious footnotes, even though many (most?) of the cited interviews fail to name the individuals cited.

The book starts crisply with a factual description of the hours leading to the Exxon Valdez disaster and ends two decades later with BP's Deepwater Horizon fiasco. In between we are given an inside look at the corporate culture and operating environment of ExxonMobil. The book consists almost entirely of dozens of intimate scenes. Retreats where Exxon executives uneasily spend days with environmentalists, descriptions of the compounds in Chad where ExxonMobil contractors and employees are barricaded behind thick walls as government security forces ward off locals wanting everything from jobs to equipment to kidnapping.

The author accomplishes several feats in this book, among those are his ability to stitch together disparate scenes to create a three-dimensional view of the world in which Exxon operates, and to coherently present the issues and personalities in all of their complexities.

While Exxon has three divisions: chemicals, upstream (oil and gas exploration and production) and downstream (refining and the gasoline station companies), the real money, the high returns are in the upstream division. Increasingly, new oil and gas reserves available for "ownership" by private companies like ExxonMobil, are in difficult places. Geologically difficult in places such as the Arctic and politically difficult in places such as Chad and Nigeria. Each of these difficulties is explained by giving us a detailed picture of the people, issues and places in which Exxon has been maneuvering over the last 20 years.

But the real triumph of this book is in the endless subtlety of the issues and people presented. Take Chad for example. Human rights and development advocates have argued for some time that it is inappropriate for a company to simply negotiate for the ownership of a country's natural resources with the ruler of that country. The result is often a country that decades later is in worse shape economically than before the contract was signed. A few individuals surrounding the ruler become obscenely wealthy, but that wealth does nothing for the country as a while. ExxonMobil was old school in this and many other matters. Executives were certain that by universally applying a rigorously developed set of rules set down in binders developed over years in the company's Texas headquarters that problems could be reduced to a minimum. It complied with applicable US and foreign laws, but refused to involve itself in the countries or communities where it did business. It paid government agencies to provide security for its facilities and personnel, but was not particularly concerned about how these forces protected these assets. This rigidity did not necessarily serve the company well, and when it negotiated a large contract with Chad it took a completely new route and required that all revenues be under the control of the World Bank, supposedly assuring that the funds would aid the country as a while, not just the ruling elite. This was not easy to negotiate for ExxonMobil, and the author gives us enough detail to see the interests of the various parties, and the effort required by ExxonMobil to accomplish this more "enlightened" approach to resource contracts. But this experiment failed, failed rather miserably, and you get a sense of why ExxonMobil preferred to keep things simple. Use a single model and keep to it.

The nuances of the book are most clearly at play when the author describes Lee Raymond, the Chairman during most of the time covered by the book. Conservative, short-tempered and unable to suffer fools without disdain, he was notoriously opposed to the very idea that climate change existed, let alone that it was a problem. But the author clearly respects the attention to detail and integrity of Mr. Raymond, and his nuanced and detailed portrayal of him echoes his portrayal of the company. If you are interested in an inside look at the world in which ExxonMobil has operated since the Valdez disaster, this is the book. If, on the other hand, you are looking for an expose, a smoking gun, you will need to keep looking.

This book will likely be getting much more attention in the coming weeks as Trump considers Exxon CEO Tillerson for Secretary of State, and for good reason. Democrats would be wise to pick up this book before his confirmation hearing. I am somewhat surprised Tillerson would accept such a job, as Exxon proves to be a rather closed up company. In complete contrast to Trump, Exxon prefers to be out of the headlines as much as possible (also, fewer bankruptcies). Anyhow, Coll does a great job of piecing things together as he can. As many have already noted, the flow of the book is somewhat disjointed - but with operations around the globe going on all the time, it is forgivable and still very readable.

What we get is a work that shows Exxon cares purely about bottom line, and with their vast resources tends to have significantly more influence than the US govt in shaping local politics - and often used that influence to ends that were not in line with US goals. Essentially, Exxon should not be viewed as an American company, but rather an entity all its own. This is important to note with Tillerson as a potential Secretary of State pick - his ties to Russia by now are common knowledge, but there should be continued light spread on his dealings with less than savory actors across the globe - in Africa, SE Asia, and the Middle East. Exxon's efforts to counter the climate change debate are also in here - and again very relevant today, given that as State Tillerson will have a significant voice on international agreements on climate deals.

A great book to read - especially if Tillerson really is Trump's guy.

As a long time (minor, very minor) shareholder in Exxon (then ExxonMobil) I was looking forward to reading this. I will not say I was disappointed but ultimately I was, slightly. I had not read any Steve Coll but he seemed to have a solid reputation from previous efforts. I was more than half-expecting a liberal hack job about the 'evil corporation, blah, blah' but for the most part he seemed to resist that temptation. I could feel his inner liberal screaming to get out at times and it did leak out in places. His general disdain for people who did not grow up in the east/west coast bubble was palpable but hardly over the top. He makes sure to repeat often how much these guys gave to Republican politicians with a vague insinuation of the inappropriateness of that. I did not learn too much about now Secretary Rex Tillerson, but he comes off as a decent and reasonable man, other than the swipe that 'he never lived outside the U.S'. How many Americans have? The book seems to be well researched but it was oddly disjointed. Many of the chapters are essentially stand-alone stories which are however generally well-written and interesting. Many would have made a good piece in the New Yorker, which is probably not surprising. The maps were useful and could have used a few more. When writing on something as technical as fossil fuels he really could have improved the book with some well-placed data tables. Not a single one appears in a book full of numbers on production, sales, profits, etc. But he is a journalist not a scientist and it showed. I really think he wanted to draw some grand conclusions about Exxon and maybe capitalism but he more or less refrained, recognizing the incredible complexity of the modern economic/political system which resists easy answers. Oh, and the back 'dustcover' of my paperback edition deserves a particular call-out for shoddy 'journalism'. The reference to the 'central role' of Exxon Mobil in the Deepwater Horizon disaster is a bit of gratuitous muckraking.

Two warnings – first, this is not light reading. It's not difficult, but at 624 pages, there's a lot of material here. The good news is that is very informative, detailed and well documented research. The second warning is for die in the wool capitalists who believe in less regulation of industry – you're not going to enjoy this at all.

Author Steve Coll traces Exxon/Mobile, the most profitable company in the US/world, from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill to 2013. Coll uses plenty of primary sources, many from court documents, backed up with oral interviews, material from Exxon/Mobile secured via Freedom of Information Act and WikiLeaks, to name but a few of the sources.

I found the early chapters with CEO Lee “Iron Ass” Raymond to be the most interesting. Chapters review Exxon/Mobile practices in third world countries, relationships with dictators, regulators, government, lobbyists, competition and of course, the consumer. Coll paints a picture of an ultra conservative, careful monolith that cares only about the bottom line. Cost cutting, increasing profits by all means are spelled out here. While Exxon/Mobile is the target company of this book, you could easily change the name to any fortune 500 company and the story line would be the same. Coll demonstrates how the oil industry in general, and Exxon/Mobile in particular, have created an 'us vs. them' mentality. All is justified in the name of the shareholder

Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in Corporate America, monolithic companies, the oil industry, corporate lobbying or public relations.

Steve Coll’s Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power looks at the strategy of the oil giant through the tenures of CEOs Lee Raymond and Rex Tillerson. Through a series of cases, he argues consistent corporate policies and respect for contracts remained the company’s approach to a variety of issues – climate change, taxes, ownership of resources – across geographies - Aceh, Chad, Alaska, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Russia, and Washington. This steady approach allowed it to conquer rivals and remain on top in a boom and bust commodities market. The corporation, acting as a monolith, can seem the villain, the victim, or even an innocent bystander depending on the situation. In some ways, the consistency of the company makes it a bit boring. While Raymond and Tillerson clearly have enormous economic and political power, the book portrays them as rather no-nonsense, methodical leaders, which seems a bit dull. Like the company itself, this book is a behemoth. Coll provides extraordinary detail on the people, places, and decisions involved, most of it from interviews with ExxonMobil’s counterparts, US government documents, and other sources. One criticism is there is little if any direct documentation from the company itself, likely a result of corporate secrecy. Still, the book provides a detailed account of how one global company essentially executes its own foreign policy to achieve unprecedented growth and value for its shareholders.

A perfect example of the value of good investigative journalism. Private Empire gives timely insights into the background and negotiating style of Secretary of State-Designate and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, but there's so much more here. Coll uses events and personalities to explore how Exxon Mobil operates, how it gains its immense fortune, how company leaders exploit legal loopholes, use lobbyists, public relations, and the company's immense fortune to gain advantage in the United States and abroad, and how it handles crises such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In the process, Coll includes just enough technical explanations--how offshore platforms operate, how fracking works, and how neighborhood gas stations protect against spills--to give context to discussions, while never bogging down in detail.

Coll's balanced approach to his subject is his greatest strength. He writes extensively of how Exxon Mobil's operations in Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Russian, and Nigeria impact on local human rights issues, but never stoops to portraying company officials as cardboard villains. Instead, he documents how company efforts to work with the governments in place lead to abuses. He similarly documents how Exxon Mobil's focus on playing legal hardball, protecting itself from liability at all costs, leads to increased suffering among Americans affected by domestic oil spills and continued controversy over climate change. Coll doesn't shy from showing the results of company policies, but he places those results in context--including describing internal debates over problematic policies and how policies evolved over time. He is particularly good at tracing the impact of the Exxon Valdez spill on Exxon's internal operations, including both how the company built the industry's best safety record and how it fought to undercut efforts to expand its liability.

In short, Coll successfully turned an arcane subject into a fascinating read. Highly recommended.

This book was disappointing as corporate "biography" and insider's view into Big Oil. For all the interviews and anecdotes describing the Who, When and Where, the reader finishes the book with no greater understanding of HOW and WHY of Exxon's continued success after 100 years. It provided no blueprint of Exxon's functional departments, annual budgets, logistics demands or hiring practices -- not even a company wiring diagram! It often reads like the disjointed gossip of a DC cocktail party.

Coll touches on the convoluted relationship between Exxon and the US government but fails to support a singular thesis. We see a few instances where the company exploited US policy and influence to its own advantage. But not nearly enough to demonstrate willful collusion and puppeteering. The US government and its representatives floundered with aimless policies, pandering pleas and imperious demands but never really succeeded in "partnering" with Exxon. Most disappointingly, Coll devotes only one chapter to the complex story of Exxon in post-2003 Iraq, which is in itself a fascinating tale worthy of its own book.

Coll avoids the wide-eyed naivety and trite "evil oil" slant. Exxon is a commercial enterprise, not a platform for social or scientific progressivism. Those pointing to Exxon as pariah corporation might be surprised by the PR machines at Apple, Whole Foods and other "nice, responsible" companies whose purposes are profit.

Private Empire is a terrific book. Coll does an outstanding job of extensively covering Exxon's business practices and political influence, both in America and worldwide. I found the book to be well-researched, objective, and (most importantly) exciting. For those conservatives expecting a leftist rant or liberals expecting hundreds of pages of corporation bashing, you'll be surprised. While Coll is certainly critical of many of Exxon's behaviors--particularly their stance on climate change--he also defends them from certain accusations he thinks are unfair. For example, he points out that Exxon's profits are not as obscene as some critics make them out to be; he also gives them some credit for moderating their anti-science views and endorsing a carbon tax.

Regrettably, Exxon limited Coll's access to many of their top officials--the current CEO would not talk to him, or the book might have been even better. Coll does interview their previous CEO, Lee Raymond. He is a a fascinating, if unlikable, character who is brutally blunt with people he considers fools. A great example is this conversation (page 70): another industry executive asks Raymond why he doesn't build more refineries in the U.S. to protect us from a gas shortage. Hemakes a statement that should grab anyone's attention: "We're not an U.S. company and we don't make decisions based on what's good for the U.S."

A very complete look at Exxonmobil from the crash of the Valdez in 1989 to 2011. The book really is a bunch of little stories about where Exxon has been doing business. At over 600 pages there is a lot to talk about. Learned a lot about where the oil is and what Exxon is doing to get it.

Steve Coll does a nice job explaining so of the oil jargon and keeps the book moving without getting bogged down in details.

The other interesting aspect of this book is the Rex Tillerson aspect. You get a feel for the guy as a CEO and future Sec of State.
Interesting book.

Steve Coll is one of the best chroniclers, storytellers, and writers of our time. His books read like wild fiction, and grip you from the very first page. Private Empire is no exception, as the book catalogs Exxon Mobil's power in government, politics, and international relations.

If you've had any interest in understanding the geo-political demands and concerns surrounding the oil markets, read this book. That being said, Private Empire is about more than just Exxon. Its focus on the company seems questionable at times, as the oil industry is about more than just one behemoth. Perhaps for his editors or to solidify a narrow theme, he chose Exxon, but I'm not compelled to villanize or focus on that one company.

For example, why not focus on BP's Gulf of Mexico debacle or out right fraud?

Coll may have benefited by taking a broad brush to the industry as a whole, rather than targeting one company. That's the only reason I held back a star. Otherwise, it's a powerful work of non-fiction. Hard to put down.