"Oilfield Trash is written in a charming, flowing style that any reader will enjoy....In Weaver's capable hands, the gypsy lives of a generation of young men unfold on the rigorous stage of drilling fields...."---Paul Spellman, author of Spindletop Boom Days --

“ExxonMobil has met its match in Coll, an elegant writer and dogged reporter . . . extraordinary . . . monumental.” —The Washington Post “Fascinating . . . Private Empire is a book meticulously prepared as if for trial . . . a compelling and elucidatory work.” —Bloomberg From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of Ghost Wars and The Achilles Trap, an extraordinary exposé of Big Oil. Includes a profile of current Secretary of State and former chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson In this, the first hard-hitting examination of ExxonMobil—the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States—Steve Coll reveals the true extent of its power. Private Empire pulls back the curtain, tracking the corporation’s recent history and its central role on the world stage, beginning with the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 and leading to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The action spans the globe—featuring kidnapping cases, civil wars, and high-stakes struggles at the Kremlin—and the narrative is driven by larger-than-life characters, including corporate legend Lee “Iron Ass” Raymond, ExxonMobil’s chief executive until 2005, and current chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's nomination for Secretary of State. A penetrating, news-breaking study, Private Empire is a defining portrait of Big Oil in American politics and foreign policy.

"Since 1859, oil has enabled and defined our economic, social and political landscape. Throughout this time, abundant supply ensured low, stable prices and the inner workings of the oil industry remained relatively obscure. Following a century and a half of relative calm, oil prices have become much more volatile as the sustainability and growth of reliable supply sources have been brought into question. This book provides a guide to oil; from its history, to sources of supply and drivers of demand; from how prices are determined daily in global wholesale oil markets, to how those markets are connected to prices at the pump." -- Book jacket.

Save Money, Time, and Lives with the Real-World Oil & Gas Experience of Others. Learning the Hard Way in the Oilfield can Cost You Millions, sometimes Billions of Dollars in addition to Injury and Loss of Life. Cut Through the Noise to Focus on the Most Critical Aspects of Working in the Oil and Gas Business. Based on over 1,000 Oil and Gas Situations involving Drilling, Cementing, Fracking, Wireline, Coil Tubing, Snubbing, Running Tools, Welding, Production, Workover, Logging, Trucking, Geology, Land, Engineering, Resource Development, Executive Management and much, much more. Expand Your Value Creation Opportunities by Learning from the Real-World Experience of Others. Whether you work in the office or in the field, work as a Company Man, Engineer, Driller, Tool Pusher, Roughneck, Geologist, Landman, Truck Driver, Frac Hand, Treater, Cementer, Lawyer, Flowback Hand, Welder, Geophysicist, Snubber, Pumper, Equipment Operator, Derrick Man, Mechanic, Petrophysicist, Roustabout, Manager, Director, VP, or Executive, consider adding Oilfield Survival Guide to your toolbox of knowledge. In other words, if you work hard for your money in the oil business, this book is for you. The oil & gas industry is one of the most capital-intensive businesses today. As a result, mistakes/situations can be expensive, in addition to injury and loss of life. To prevent undesirable situations, Oilfield Survival Guide was created, based on over 1,000 oil & gas situations. The ultimate guide for all oil and gas situations: ● Tactics ● Procedures ● Fatalities ● Short Stories ● Train Wrecks ● Disaster Avoidance ● Court Cases ● Life Savings Skills ● Checklists ●Troubleshooting ● Problem Job Prevention ● Oilfield Survival Guide is the ultimate oil industry resource to help manage oilfield risk and avoid mistakes by increasing your oil and gas knowledge and intelligence, utilizing a variety of methods, including: Tactics: Short and to the point guidelines to reduce risk and instill work principles to be successful in the oil industry, from the field to the office. Short Stories: Experience from the mistakes of others. Fatalities: Detailed analysis of oil and gas tragedies. Court Cases: Jury trials, expert witness testimony, and legal opinions on a variety of oil and gas cases. Procedures: Step-by-step process to create oilfield procedures and checklists, along with multiple examples. Operations Analysis: Oil and gas operations post-mortem, highlighting key learnings, practical knowledge, useful tips, and best practices. Over 1,000 oil and gas situations analyzed to create Oilfield Survival Guide.

“A book that should be read . . . Smith brings an alchemic talent to describing physical labor.” —The New York Times Book Review “Beautiful, funny, and harrowing.” – Sarah Smarsh, The Atlantic “Remarkable . . . this is the book that Hillbilly Elegy should have been.” —Kirkus Reviews A vivid window into the world of working class men set during the Bakken fracking boom in North Dakota Like thousands of restless men left unmoored in the wake of the 2008 economic crash, Michael Patrick Smith arrived in the fracking boomtown of Williston, North Dakota five years later homeless, unemployed, and desperate for a job. Renting a mattress on a dirty flophouse floor, he slept boot to beard with migrant men who came from all across America and as far away as Jamaica, Africa and the Philippines. They ate together, drank together, argued like crows and searched for jobs they couldn't get back home. Smith's goal was to find the hardest work he could do--to find out if he could do it. He hired on in the oil patch where he toiled fourteen hour shifts from summer's 100 degree dog days to deep into winter's bracing whiteouts, all the while wrestling with the demons of a turbulent past, his broken relationships with women, and the haunted memories of a family riven by violence. The Good Hand is a saga of fear, danger, exhaustion, suffering, loneliness, and grit that explores the struggles of America's marginalized boomtown workers—the rough-hewn, castoff, seemingly disposable men who do an indispensable job that few would exalt: oil field hands who, in the age of climate change, put the gas in our tanks and the food in our homes. Smith, who had pursued theater and played guitar in New York, observes this world with a critical eye; yet he comes to love his coworkers, forming close bonds with Huck, a goofy giant of a young man whose lead foot and quick fists get him into trouble with the law, and The Wildebeest, a foul-mouthed, dip-spitting truck driver who torments him but also trains him up, and helps Smith "make a hand." The Good Hand is ultimately a book about transformation--a classic American story of one man's attempt to burn himself clean through hard work, to reconcile himself to himself, to find community, and to become whole.

Recounts how Texas oil transformed wealth and power in America through the stories of the state's four most influential oil families, tracing how they rose from modest backgrounds, shaped the government, and bankrolled the rise of modern conservatism.