Hi! I'm currently exploring the possibilities of writing a Doctoral Thesis in history. I wrote my master's degree about the legal troubles with oil companies engaging in international hot spots, like how Total or ÖMV set up operations in Gaddafi's Libya, so I have som clue about the main topic. Now I want to explore how these companies influenced the development of the nation they engaged in. How did British Petroleum influence Aserbajdsjan? What about Elf Aquitaine in Angola? My question is: How can I measure the effects of these companies in a historical perspective? What variables should I use, and where can I find them? If anyone has any ideas or tricks they'd like to share, I'd be very happy.
I'm currently writing on the position of the US Congress on the Saudi oil deals of the 1940s. I don't know about other countries but maybe I can help getting some info on the impact of oil in Saudi Arabia through the United States.
If you want I already answered a question on this topic recently.
For what it's worth, I would advice you take a look at some of the reports from Congressional Committees on the matter of Saudi oil. Most of them were published around the oil crisis of 1973 to try and understand how the US got in this situation in the first place. A lot of these reports and hearings are accessible online, I'll happily send the links over to you if you want. If you want a more "executive" look and see how the matter evolved from ideas to actual oil deals, then I suggest the Foreign Relations series which "pesents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity". You can access these documents from the site of the State Department , or via The university of Wisconsin-Madison