Life & Wisdom Quote by Daniel Yergin

Access is the real four-letter word in oil, and Yergin puts it upfront with the calm, boardroom candor of someone describing gravity. He’s not marveling at geology or innovation; he’s pointing to power. “Fields” aren’t just reservoirs underground, they’re permits, contracts, pipelines, shipping lanes, and political relationships. In that framing, the industry’s central drama isn’t discovery but permission.

The intent here is to demystify why oil companies behave the way they do. If “getting access” sits “on top of the agenda,” then exploration, technology, even price forecasts become secondary to the gatekeepers: national oil companies, ministries, regulators, and leaders who can open or close a basin with a signature. Yergin’s language smooths the sharp edges. He avoids words like coercion, leverage, or sovereignty, but they hover behind “access” like a shadow. It’s a euphemism that doubles as a thesis: energy markets are political markets.

The second sentence, forecasting a “substantial build-up of supply,” works as reassurance with a caveat. Yes, more barrels are coming - but the subtext is that supply growth isn’t inevitable. It’s contingent on access remaining available, stable, and investable. The context is a world where resource nationalism, sanctions, conflict, and climate policy can all rewrite the rules midstream. Yergin is effectively saying: don’t watch the drill bit; watch the door.