Trace the turbulent, rapid rise of the worlds biggest business, how a visionary but ruthless John D. Rockefeller controlled it - and how reporter Ida Tarbell took him on in one of the most famous mud racking exposes ever. A fascinating look at Rockefeller's controversial legacy, the rise of modern business, and how Tarbell served as a role model for modern investigative journalist.

Witness capitalism on a grand scale: how Shell Oil and Royal Dutch merged, and then challenged the supremacy of Rockefeller's Standard Oil. A compelling tale of how oil transformed everyday life in the farthest corners of the globe, made Russia a great oil power, and helped the allies win World War I.

It's the roaring twenties, and the magic of oil touches everyone, from millions of new car owners to hopeful Texas wildcatters. The American oil industry wrestles with shortages and surplus, as a flamboyant entrepreneur Calouste Gulbenkian stakes his claim in Iraq.

The untold story of World War II unfolds: how oil dictated strategy to Hitler; how lack of oil slowed Japan's war machine; how ultimately oil determined victory or defeat. Features rare footage on the critical impact of oil on decisive military events.

Post WWII America awakens to the strategic importance of oil, and witnesses a key moment in history when oil production shifts from the U.S. to the Middle East. An extraordinary cast of characters, including Arabian kings, U.S. presidents, British adventurers, Iranian politicians, and American explorers, paint a global portrait of how oil shaped the world economy and politics.

It's the heyday of cheap oil, the dawn of the Hydrocarbon Society and the introduction of a prosperous new automobile culture for Americans. Follow the heroes and antiheroes, plots and counterplots, as the producing countries and the independent oil companies challenge the "Seven Sisters" and open a new era in world oil.

Relive two decades of upheaval that shook the world and changed our lives as power shifted, and nations and companies jockeyed for position ñ midst embargoes, shortages and surpluses. A unique view of the rise of the OPEC era, beginning with the British withdrawal from the Persian Gulf and ending with the burning oil wells of Kuwait.

The Gulf War marked the beginning of a new era for the Hydrocarbon Society. This program explores the relation of oil and environmental conscience, and the technological race to balance energy, economic and ecological needs in the Information Age.