Documentary backdrop image for The Oil Machine (2022)

Documentary backdrop image for The Oil Machine (2022)

202282 minPGdocumentary

5.7/ 10(3 ratings)• TMDB

Circular Economy Civil Rights

The Oil Machine

202282 minPGdocumentary

5.7/ 10(3 ratings)• TMDB

Scotland's oil economy, influenced by Margaret Thatcher's privatization policies, is questioned by industry leaders and activists after COP26.

“Can we break our addiction?”

Circular Economy Civil Rights

Genres

Director

Synopsis

Scotland's oil economy, influenced by Margaret Thatcher's privatization policies, is questioned by industry leaders and activists after COP26.

People

Emma Daviedirector

Holly Gillibrandcast

Kevin Anderson

Kevin Andersoncast

Emeka Emembolucast

Jake Molloycast

Synopsis

Emma Davie’s 2022 documentary takes place in Scotland, where the discovery of oil off the coast has shaped the economy and public policy. It details the privatization of oil resources during Margaret Thatcher's government. Following the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the film features insights from industry executives, economists, and young activists, who discuss the need for climate action and strategies to reduce the oil sector's influence.

Awards & Festivals

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Oil Turmoil - Nigeria (2007)

Oil Turmoil - Nigeria

In March 1999, Nigeria's oil communities demand accountability for pollution and exploitation.

Oil Turmoil - Nigeria

How Crude Oil Revolutionised Society In The 1950s (2021)

How Crude Oil Revolutionised Society In The 1950s

By the end of the 1950s, home entertaining became popular as innovative design and scientific breakthroughs transformed living rooms into stylish hubs of family life.

How Crude Oil Revolutionised Society In The 1950s

Afghanistan Oil: the Secret Negotiations (2024)

Afghanistan Oil: the Secret Negotiations

In the late 1990s, Unocal's vice president, Mary Miller, secretly invited Taliban leaders to the company's headquarters in Sugarland, Texas, to discuss a pipeline project.

Afghanistan Oil: the Secret Negotiations

Oil: The Race for the Last Reserves (2026)

Oil: The Race for the Last Reserves

The global dependence on crude oil is examined through the lens of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, highlighting the risks and environmental costs of extraction.

Oil: The Race for the Last Reserves

Oil promises - how oil changed a country (2020)

Oil promises - how oil changed a country

600 million barrels of oil were discovered offshore from Ghana in 2007, raising hopes for jobs and infrastructure in local fishing villages.

Oil promises - how oil changed a country

The Power of Big Oil Part One: Denial (2022)

The Power of Big Oil Part One: Denial

Fossil fuel companies have historically cast doubt on climate change science, delaying critical action and contributing to the escalating environmental crisis.

The Power of Big Oil Part One: Denial

Is This Why The World Is Running Out Of Oil? (2026)

Is This Why The World Is Running Out Of Oil?

Extreme energy extraction, including Arctic drilling and fracking, poses significant risks to the environment and local communities while raising questions about renewable energy's future.

Is This Why The World Is Running Out Of Oil?

Climate Change on Trial (2024)

Climate Change on Trial

Roger Cox, a pioneering lawyer, successfully sued a government and an oil giant, establishing a legal duty of care to combat catastrophic climate change.

Climate Change on Trial

Undercurrents 4 (2018)

Undercurrents 4

Activism in the mid-1990s is captured through footage of the New Labour conference takeover, women's rights marches, and protests against Shell's actions in Ogoniland.

Undercurrents 4

How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions (2020)

How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions

Eight years of peace and prosperity marked Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency, driven by his "Middle Way" approach to leadership and decision-making.

How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions

The Women’s Suffrage Centennial: Impact and Legacy (2021)

The Women’s Suffrage Centennial: Impact and Legacy

Nearly 800 local leagues of the League of Women Voters continue the work of suffragists to promote women's voting rights across the United States.

The Women’s Suffrage Centennial: Impact and Legacy

Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell with Alison M. Parker (2020)

Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell with Alison M. Parker

Mary Church Terrell, born into slavery in 1863, became a leading activist and the first president of the National Association of Colored Women, collaborating with figures like W. E. B. Du Bois.

Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell with Alison M. Parker

Explore The Oil Machine

Trailer People Awards Topics FAQ Stream

Where else to watch

Crude: The Incredible Journey of Oil (2007)

Crude: The Incredible Journey of Oil

2007•1h29m•★9.3TMDB

Oil formed deep within the Earth during the age of dinosaurs and has since become essential to modern life, impacting economies and technologies worldwide.

Crude: The Incredible Journey of Oil

A Crude Awakening (2006)

A Crude Awakening

2006•1h25m•★7.4TMDB

Matthew Simmons, along with petroleum geologists and former OPEC officials, discusses the impending crisis of global oil production and its economic implications.

A Crude Awakening

GasHole (2010)

GasHole

2010•1h41m•★6.2TMDB

Gas prices in the U.S. rose from $1.47 to $3.12 per gallon between January 2001 and May 2007, reflecting the country's growing dependence on foreign oil.

Blood and Oil (2008)

Blood and Oil

2008•52m•★6.0TMDB

Over 60 years of U.S. foreign policy has been influenced by oil, as revealed through declassified documents and presidential doctrines.

Fuel (2008)

Fuel

2008•1h30m•★7.2TMDB

Rising oil prices and climate change are examined through the lens of the auto and oil industries, featuring insights from Sheryl Crow and Richard Branson.

Oil Gobblers (1988)

Oil Gobblers

1988•20m•★6.5TMDB

A zoologist and a biochemist enter an oilfield to study the elusive oil gobblers, documenting their findings on these unique creatures.

The Pipe (2010)

The Pipe

2010•1h23m•★6.0TMDB

Over four years, a small community in Rossport, Ireland, confronts Shell Oil and the Irish State over the rights to land and fishing grounds.

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter (2021)

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter

2021•1h38m•★10.0TMDB

Bertha Lutz played a key role in ensuring women's rights were included in the discussions that shaped the U.N. Charter in 1945.

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter

Browse more like this

Afghanistan Oil: the Secret Negotiations (2024)

Afghanistan Oil: the Secret Negotiations

In the late 1990s, Unocal's vice president, Mary Miller, secretly invited Taliban leaders to the company's headquarters in Sugarland, Texas, to discuss a pipeline project.

Afghanistan Oil: the Secret Negotiations

No digital watch option in your country

The Power of Big Oil Part One: Denial (2022)

The Power of Big Oil Part One: Denial

Fossil fuel companies have historically cast doubt on climate change science, delaying critical action and contributing to the escalating environmental crisis.

The Power of Big Oil Part One: Denial

No digital watch option in your country

Is This Why The World Is Running Out Of Oil? (2026)

Is This Why The World Is Running Out Of Oil?

Extreme energy extraction, including Arctic drilling and fracking, poses significant risks to the environment and local communities while raising questions about renewable energy's future.

Is This Why The World Is Running Out Of Oil?

No digital watch option in your country

Climate Change on Trial (2024)

Climate Change on Trial

Roger Cox, a pioneering lawyer, successfully sued a government and an oil giant, establishing a legal duty of care to combat catastrophic climate change.

Climate Change on Trial

No digital watch option in your country

Scenes of Extraction (2023)

Scenes of Extraction

2023•43m•★10.0TMDB

British Petroleum Archives contain extensive records of British geophysical expeditions in Iran during the early 20th century.

Scenes of Extraction

Rigs of Nigg (2021)

Rigs of Nigg

2021•58m•★8.0TMDB

In the early 1970s, the construction of oil rigs in Nigg transforms the local community, forever changing their way of life and economy.

Petrolia (2005)

Petrolia

2005•21m•★9.0TMDB

Oil and gas supplies along the Scottish coastline are expected to run dry in the next 40 years, as depicted through industrial scenes and techniques.

At Five on the Dot (2004)

At Five on the Dot

2004•56m•★10.0TMDB

On June 27, 1973, Uruguayan workers and students staged the largest peaceful demonstration in Latin America against a military coup.

At Five on the Dot

Browse more by Emma Davie

View all films →

Becoming Animal (2018)

Becoming Animal

2018

I Am Breathing (2013)

I Am Breathing

2013

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →