If you had to name the world's largest industry, which would you pick? No, not information technology or telecommunications, nor defence or car manufacturing. Lee Raymond, the chairman of ExxonMobil, has the answer: "Energy is the biggest business in the world; there just isn't any other industry that begins to compare." By the reckoning of Booz, Allen & Hamilton, a consultancy, the turnover of the global energy business amounts to at least $1.7 trillion-$2 trillion a year. The World Energy Council, an umbrella body for various energy interests, estimates that global investment in energy between 1990 and 2020 will total some $30 trillion at 1992 prices. And it is not just size that distinguishes the industry, says Mr Raymond: "Energy is the very fuel of society, and societies without access to competitive energy suffer."
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