in the long and interesting book "The Taking of Getty Oil" and partly in a second book "History of International Corporations in the 20th Century" (title?) they specifically talk about a post-colonial approach to oil contracts, specifically the formation of Aaramco (sp?) the National Oil of Saudi Arabia.. the US and the US Intelligence Agencies exactly and specifically created agreements with local rulers to avoid the British methods from a century earlier. This is not to say that the same US Intelligence supported local democracy, or the established rulers, without conditions -- instead the perception of the agreement, and the levers of control, and where the money went in what proportions, where changed knowingly.