Private Empire ExxonMobil and American Power

By Steve Coll

Steve Coll investigates the notoriously mysterious ExxonMobil Corporation and the secrets of the oil industry. In many of the nations where it operates, ExxonMobil has a greater sway than that of the US embassy, its annual revenues are larger than the total economic activity in most countries and in Washington it spends more on lobbying than any other corporation. Yet despite its outsized influence, it is to outsiders a black box.