ABSTRACT
This chapter examines multinational corporations (MNCs) relationship with home and host states in the course of resource extraction. It focuses on the early extractive imperial companies from a North–South perspective and tries to contextualise the lasting legacy of colonial plunder as resource extraction politics evolved through the decolonisation period first and the advent of globalisation later, until the emergence and growth of South–South investment in the postcolonial world. The chapter focuses on a particular type of resource – oil, and on a particular type of company – state owned. It also traces the growth and expansion of national or state owned natural resource extraction companies alongside the emergence of the Global South as an economic force, and the subsequent growth of South–South investment. The chapter then considers the goals and aims of state owned enterprises (SOEs) in the Global South and links these to the international investment strategy of many national oil companies (NOCs).
