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Standard’s grip on what was rapidly becoming a global market triggered a response from European colonial powers, which saw the dangers of becoming reliant on imports from America or Russia.
標準石油公司對這個迅速發展為全球市場的行業的掌控，讓歐洲殖民列強們看到了依賴美國或俄羅斯進口石油的危險。
With no less violence or ruthlessness than their American counterparts, they set about exploiting existing and newly acquired colonies to correct the imbalance.
他們的暴力和殘忍程度不亞于美洲的殖民列強，他們開始利用現有的和新獲得的殖民地來修正這種失衡。
The British turned to the Indian subcontinent and then to Persia, the Dutch to the East Indies.
英國人轉為前往印度次大陸殖民，隨后又轉向波斯，而荷蘭人則去往了東印度群島。
The most intense competition was between Standard, as it sought concessions in the Far East, and the emerging behemoth, Royal Dutch Shell.
在遠東尋求特許權的標準石油公司和新興巨頭荷蘭皇家殼牌集團之間的競爭最為激烈。
Nowhere was the pursuit of oil bloodier than in Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra.
在蘇門答臘島北端的亞齊，人們對石油的追求最為血腥。
In 1896 Dutch forces were sent to open up the area for exploitation through “merciless chastisement” of the local population.
1896年，荷蘭軍隊被派往該地區，通過“無情地懲罰”當地居民來開發該地區，進而進行剝削。
Atrocities in Aceh became routine.
從此，暴行在亞齊成了常事。
Over the next 40 years up to 100,000 Acehnese would be slaughtered for the sake of oil.
在之后的40年里，可能有多達10萬名亞齊人因石油而遭到屠殺。
Hendrikus Colijn, an officer with a well-earned reputation for brutality, described his approach to his work in a letter home to his wife:
亨德里庫斯·科萊恩是一名以殘暴著稱的軍官，他在寫給妻子的一封家信中描述了自己對工作的態度：
I saw a woman, with a child about half a year old in her left arm and a long lance in her right hand, charging towards us.
我看見一個女人，她左手抱著一個大約六個月大的孩子，右手拿著一支長矛，向我們沖了過來。
One of our bullets killed both mother and child.
我們的一顆子彈奪去了這對母子的兩條性命。
From then on we could grant no more mercy.
從那時起，我們再也不能仁慈了。
I had to gather together 9 women and 3 children, who were begging for mercy, and they were all shot.
我不得不把乞求寬恕的9名婦女和3名兒童聚集在一起，然后將其全部槍殺。
It was unpleasant work, but there was no alternative.
這份工作令人不快，但我別無選擇。
These horrors did not harm Colijn’s career.
這些不愉快的經歷并沒有對科萊恩的職業生涯造成損害。
He became head of Royal Dutch Shell and prime minister of the Netherlands.
他后來成為了荷蘭皇家殼牌集團的負責人和荷蘭首相。
By the beginning of the 20th century, with both the refinement of the internal-combustion engine and the realisation by the navies of the great powers that their ships could go farther and faster with boilers fuelled by oil rather than coal, reliable access to oil in times of war became a major security concern.
到了20世紀初，隨著內燃機的改進，再加上大國海軍意識到，用石油而不是煤炭作為鍋爐燃料的話，他們的船只可以走得更遠、更快，在戰爭時期獲取石油的可靠渠道成為了一個重大安全問題。
Mr Fisher writes especially well about the maniacal drive of Admiral “Jackie” Fisher (no relation) to shift the Royal Navy from coal to oil propulsion with the backing of Winston Churchill, at the time the First Lord of the Admiralty.
海軍上將杰基·費舍爾(與基思·費舍爾沒有親戚關系)在時任海軍大臣溫斯頓·丘吉爾的支持下，將皇家海軍的戰艦燃料由煤炭改為了石油，費舍爾對杰基·費舍爾這樣做時的狂熱干勁描寫得尤其好。
To ensure that the great Dreadnought battleships could still rule the waves, in 1914 the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly for the “socialist” solution of nationalising the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (which would later become BP).
1914年，為了確保大型無畏戰艦仍能駕馭海浪，英國下議院以壓倒性多數投票支持“社會主義”解決方案，將英波石油公司(即后來的英國石油公司)國有化。
It was in the nick of time.
當時正是關鍵時刻。
A few weeks later Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed in Sarajevo.
幾周后，弗朗茨·斐迪南大公在薩拉熱窩遇害。
More than a century on, and despite faltering attempts to stall climate change through decarbonisation, the war in Ukraine is a reminder of the world’s continuing dependence on oil.
一個多世紀過去了，盡管通過脫碳來延緩氣候變化的努力步履蹣跚，但烏克蘭戰爭提醒人們，世界仍然在依賴石油。
This book has its faults.
這本書有缺點。
At times the narrative is overloaded with detail, and the author seems reluctant to flesh out the many extraordinary (and rapacious) characters who populate the story of oil.
敘述細節有時過多，而且對于石油故事中許多非同尋常(和貪婪)的人物，作者似乎不愿充實他們的形象。
But it is nevertheless a compelling read, crammed with eyewitness accounts, and an immensely valuable guide to a great and terrible industry.
但它仍然是一本引人入勝的讀物，書中滿是對過往的描述，它也是一本非常有價值的指南，引領我們了解這個偉大而又可怕的行業。
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