In the 1960s and 1970s, oil supplies were a source of international political conflict. Major oil companies, such as Exxon, Shell, and BP were key actors in this conflict. With their vertical, multinational structures, they dominated production and trade. The study examines their strategies and...

We show that the incorporation of offshore entities increases when oil and gas exploration licences are awarded. We exploit leaked data on the incorporation of shell companies and detailed information on tax havens and the awarding rounds of oil licences to construct a new data set covering 119...