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.