A global energy network? The expansion and integration of non-triad national oil companies

It is widely perceived that the rising influence of state-owned energy companies from outside the traditional triad (USA, EU, Japan) is transforming the structure of the global energy market and generating a new wave of resource-nationalism. There is, however, little empirical analysis of how this process has unfolded. Addressing this empirical gap, in this article I employ a longitudinal social network analysis of the changing corporate relations of five major non-triad state-owned energy companies in the period 1997-2007. The findings indicate that, in terms of corporate relations, alongside the global expansion of the non-triad state-owned energy companies, there was also an increased integration between them and the private energy companies during this decade. This implies that apart from the resurgence of resource-nationalism - frequently highlighted in academia and politics - this period also witnessed an increasing transnationalization of the global energy market. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd & Global Networks Partnership.