oil addiction

[MalignD at aol.com]

<< And of course how Germany manufactured alternative fuel plays a huge
 role in GR.   >>

One thing that Sasuly mentions was IG Farben, before the war, inviting 
representatives from Standard Oil NJ over to Germany to show the Americans 
their newly developed technology for deriving oil from (if I remember 
correctly) shale and allowing the Americans (incorrectly) to assume that this 
could be done on a fairly large scale (it could not).

Fearful of losing the European market, Esso offered the IG co-patent 
contracts on Esso's synthetic (buna) rubber in return for not developing the 
shale oil on a greater scale, which the clever Germans couldn't do anyway.  
One consequence of this was, with the US entering the war and sources of 
natural rubber scarce, Esso's being reluctant to produce buna rubber for the 
mobilization effort, lest it harm it's relationship with IG.  

Even patriotism has its limits.