The National Petroleum Council (NPC) emerged out of the close
cooperation between the petroleum industry and the federal government
during World War II. In the last fifty-plus years, the Council has evolved
into a voice of the marketplace, analyzing conditions in the petroleum
industry and publishing its findings in reports widely considered
authoritative and useful.

    Here, Joseph A. Pratt, William H. Becker, and William M. McClenahan,
Jr., analyze the choices and strategies that have given the Council the
adaptability and resilience to survive. The authors look at the Council's
reports and examine the NPC's ability to tap information and personnel
from all sectors of the industry. Finally, they analyze the one political
concern that has remained constant for the industry: antitrust.

    This book not only sheds light on the petroleum industry and its
regulatory context but also addresses the larger questions of the U.S.
government's relations with the industries it regulates.

_________________________________________________________

JOSEPH A. PRATT is Cullen Professor of History and Business at the
University of Houston. WILLIAM H. BECKER is Professor of History
and Strategic Management and Public Policy at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C. WILLIAM M. McCLENAHAN, JR.,
teaches at the University of Maryland in College Park and also serves as a
research assistant for the Business History Group.


Number Thirteen: Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business History