Oil has been an invisible machine at the core of our society. It now faces an uncertain future as activists and investors demand change. Is this the end of oil?

By highlighting the complexities of how oil is embedded in our society - from high finance to cheap consumer goods, The Oil Machine brings together a wide range of voices from company executives, economists, young activists, workers, scientists, and pension fund managers. It considers how this machine can be tamed, dismantled, or repurposed.

We might have just five to ten years to control our oil addiction, and yet the licensing of new fields continues in direct contradiction with the Paris Climate Agreement. Emma Davie looks at how the drama of global climate action is playing out in the fight over North Sea oil. She reveals the hidden infrastructure of oil from the offshore rigs and the buried pipelines to its flow through the stock markets of London.

As the industry struggles to meet the need to cut carbon emissions, oil workers see their livelihoods under threat, and investors seek to protect their assets. Meanwhile a younger generation of climate justice activists are catalyzed by the signs of impending chaos. The Oil Machine explores the complexities of transitioning away from oil and gas and considers how quickly it can be done.