Voice of the Marketplace: A History of the National Petroleum Council

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.