When cheap oil reached its consumers. A history of oil infrastructure in Western Europe after 1945

My main research, that will lead to the publication of a second monograph, is concerned with the history of fossil energy, and more specifically with the rise of oil consumption in Western Europe after 1945. Focusing on the specific case of the building of oil infrastructure −especially crude oil pipelines and refineries− in Switzerland, Germany and France, I endeavour to move beyond the factors of price and convenience in explaining the meteoric surge of that energy source. By considering the actors involved at multiple scales (local, regional, national, international) and the debates the projects sparked, my research aims at illustrating how the flow of oil did not simply result from natural abundance and characteristics, but was also profoundly shaped by economic, political, and environmental factors.