After World War II, the discovery and production of onshore oil in 
the United States faced decline. As a result, offshore prospects in 
the Gulf of Mexico took on new strategic value. Shell Oil Company 
pioneered many of the early moves offshore and continues to lead 
the way into "deepwater."

    Tyler Priest's study is the first time the modern history of Shell 
Oil has been told in any detail. Drawing on interviews with Shell 
retirees and many other sources, Priest relates how the 
imagination, talent, and hard work of personnel at all levels shaped 
the evolution of the company. The narrative also covers important 
aspects of Shell Oil's corporate evolution, but the company's 
pioneering steps into the deepwater fields of the Gulf of Mexico 
are its signature achievement. Priest's study demonstrates that 
engineers did not suddenly create methods for finding and 
producing oil and gas from astounding water depths. Rather, they 
built on a half-century of accumulated knowledge and improvements 
to technical systems.

    Shell Oil's story is unique, but it also illuminates the modern 
history of the petroleum industry. As Priest demonstrates, this 
company's experiences offer a starting point for examining the 
understudied topics of strategic decision-making, scientific 
research, management of technology, and corporate organization 
and culture within modern oil companies, as well as how these 
activities applied to offshore development.

_________________________________________________________

TYLER PRIEST is the director of Global Studies in the University 
of Houston's College of Business. He holds a Ph.D. in history 
from the University of Wisconsin and recently received the 2008 
AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) 
Geosciences in the Media award for The Offshore Imperative.


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


What people are saying about this book

"Dr. Priest has written a thoroughly-researched and interesting 
history of post World War II petroleum exploration."—The Permian 
Historical Annual, 2007