Multinational Enterprise and Transnational Regions offers an innovative transnational approach to the study of the history of economic regions. The historiography of the economic development of the Rhine region, a transnational economic region loosely comprising the cities and areas in the Rhine basin, has traditionally focused on the l

IntroductionTransnational economic regions: capturing an illusive phenomenonResurrecting the Rhine as an economic regionEnergy transition in the Rhine region Part I Regional transformation — Energy transition in the Rhine regionChapter 1 The post-war reconstruction and the rise of oil, 1945-19511.1 Introduction1.2 The question of energy in post-war Western Europe 1.3 The impact of the Allied occupation on the Ruhr coal industry1.4 The Allied refining program: restarting the hydrogenation plants1.5 The case of Union Kraftstoff1.6 The geographical consequences of the Allied occupation1.7 ConclusionChapter 2 Oil unbounded: The Coal Crisis of 1957-82.1 Introduction2.2 The competition between coal and oil, 1950-19552.3 The rise of fuel oil and the 1958 coal crisis2.4 Stemming the tide: attempts to limit the rise of fuel oil2.5 ConclusionChapter 3 The growth of chemical clusters in the Rhine region, 1960-733.1 Introduction3.2 The Rhine-Ruhr refineries3.3 Deutsche Shell and Union Kraftstoff, 1951-19583.4 The Rhineland refinery of Deutsche Shell3.5 The post-war transition of the chemical industry3.6 An oil and petrochemical cluster in the Rhine-Ruhr area3.7 Effect of the transition on transport demand in the hinterland3.8 ConclusionsPart II Regional connections — From Rhine to pipelineChapter 4 Pipelines: The national approach, 1955-64.1 Introduction4.2 A pipeline to the Rhine-Ruhr area4.3 Rotterdam competing with Wilhelmshaven4.4 Wilhelmshaven: "the best deep water port in Europe"?4.5 ConclusionsChapter 5 The trans-European pipeline: The transnational approach: 1956-85.1 Introduction 5.2 From national to transnational: the trans-European pipeline plan5.3 Further complications 5.4 France, oil and the Cold War5.5 Endgame: The failure of the trans-European pipeline5.6 Why the trans-European pipeline never materialised 5.7 ConclusionChapter 6 Expanding transnational connections, 1959-736.1 Introduction6.2 The hydrocarbon hub: The Rotterdam port between 1950 and 1973 6.3 The expansion of the Rotterdam-Rhine pipeline, 1965-1968 6.4 The Rhine-Main pipeline, 1965-1971 6.5 Integrating chemical clusters in the Rhine basin, 1965-736.6 The Rotterdam-Antwerp pipeline, 1967-19696.7 ConclusionChapter 7 Transnational connections in the Rhine region: Evidence from transport flows7.1 Introduction7.2 Gateway to the Rhine? Rotterdam from transitopolis to industrial port7.3 Oil flows in the Rhine region: The impact of pipelines7.4 Transnational connections 7.5 ConclusionChapter 8 Conclusion

"A unique multi-national study in economic policy which breaks out of the national constraints of much business history work." –Kevin Tennent, University of York, UK"This book will appeal to a range of readers interested in business, economic, and energy history, as well as those who wish to better understand the nuances and tensions of postwar Europe's infrastructural integration." - Nicholas Ostrum, EuropeNow