Does anyone have the printed rules for a board game called Petropolis/
It was very popular in the 70's during the oil crisis.
I have the game but not the rules.
Mainly what I'm missing is the rules regarding the money
(distribution, buying etc).
Thank you.

Greetings Cabron:

I'm delighted you were pleased with my research so I'll post my
comments as an answer.  I'll also keep an eye out locally for a used
copy of the game in hopes of adding the denomination/cost for you
[although I believe you'll be able to adapt that easily].

Here are the rules I've discovered [I've edited the form a bit from
the comments posting so that it may be easier for you to read]:

*********

TAKE OFF/LANDING (=Geneva Airport) is on the midfield and the game
goes counter-clockwise! 27 countries are spread over the strong game
board, each of them having 1 oil consession to give away. From the
airport on the spaces are:

RED: Venezuela/Argentine/Ecuador
LIGHT BLUE: USA/Canada/Telex/Mexico
Go To International Court
Refuel/Pay $ 100,000
DARK BROWN: Indonesia/Brunei Malaysia/Australia
LIGHT PURPLE: China/USSR/Norway
Telex
OPEC meeting
DARK YELLOW: Libya/Algeria/Nigeria/Gabon 
YELLOW: Falconry in the desert
International Court
Telex
LIGHT GREEN: Iraq/Kuwait/Egypt
DARK BLUE: Sjarjah/Dubai/Abu Dhabi
Throw Dice Again
Go To International Court
BEIGE: Oman/Telex/Bahrein/Qatar 
BLUE GREEN: Iran 
YELLOW: Lost in the dessert
BLUE GREEN: Saudi Arabia 

Subject to the number of players the consessions are to be distributed
amongst them at the start of the game; the remainder must be bought.

The oiltycoons always move over the board by plane. Over or on TAKE
OFF you receive P$ 500,000.

There are 8 molded "gold" tokens representing:
Airplane
Tanker
Sword
Storage tank
Bar of gold
Barrel
Drilling-rig 
Oil-rig. 
(The German and Dutch tokens are but plastic "emblems on a base").
They are stored in a black vinyl pouch wilth "gold" draw-strings.
There is a black dice shaker felt-lined inside.

Typical for this edition is the keychain/timer, to set the game up to
60 minutes. This is a clever item because the game is fundamentally
played from time. The course of the game is divided into 3 stages:

STAGE 1: The opening, playtime 10 minutes. In this stage those
oilconsessions who were not distributed amongst the players in the
first instance must be bought from the Worldbank now.

STAGE 2: Trade and auction, playtime 5 - 10 minutes. The still unsold
oil consessions must be sold or auctioned anyhow. Next the players can
trade together in order to complete color groups.

STAGE 3: Main match, playtime 60 minutes. The oiltycoons can now open
up their properties by building drilling-rigs (instead of houses) and
finally oil-rigs (instead of hotels). For the rest the game works out
according to the usual rules.

All property cards are made of thick vinyl with gold lettering for
prices and interest rates.  The money consists of clumsy tiny (45 x 75
mm) but good looking
plastic laminated Petrodollar banknotes from the Worldbank. In the
centre is a circle with a dromedary (or camel?) with "IN OIL WE TRUST"
over it!

The bills are in the amounts of P$1,000 - 5,000 - 10,000 - 20,000 -
50,000 - 100,000 and P$1,000,000 denominations.

Instead of Chance and Community Chest cards there are 25 Telex cards,
consisting of black paper with gold lettering. The instructions are
like:

"The radar of your private jet is out of order. You miss a turn." 
"You must appear in front of the Tribunal of The Hague - President of
the Tribunal."
"Heavy storm: important repairs on all the oil-rigs - Pay P$100,000 for each one."

The card "Your political influence has helped to prove your innocence.
Keep this telex - President of the Tribunal." correspond consequently
with "Get out of Jail free".

From http://www.muurkrant.nl/monopoly/usa_related_games.htm

*********

I also located a game contents list at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5715
"1 board; 27 concession titles; 25 telex messages; 7 playing markers;
2 dice; 34 derricks; 14 oil platforms and 390 petrodollar bills."

And

"Publisher: Newfeld Limited 
Players: 2-7 
Playing Time: 90 Minutes"


[Because of the 90 minute information above, Stages 1, 2 and 3 are
probably 15, 15 and 60 minutes, respectively.]


Thank you for the opportunity to answer this question - it's my first
answer of 2004!  :)


Best regards,
journalist-ga


SEARCH STRATEGY:

Petropolis rules game play

Greetings Cabron:

Here are the rules I've discovered:

*********

TAKE OFF/LANDING (=Geneva Airport) is on the midfield and the game
goes counter-clockwise! 27 countries are spread over the strong game
board, each of them having 1 oilconsession to give away. From the
airport on the spaces are:

red: Venezuela/Argentine/Ecuador - light blue: USA/Canada/Telex/Mexico
- Go T International Court - Refuel/Pay $ 100,000 - dark brown:
Indonesia/Brunei Malaysia/Australia - light purple: China/USSR/Norway
- Telex - OPEC meeting - dark yellow : Libya/Algeria/Nigeria/Gabon -
yellow: Falconry in the desert - International Court - Telex - light
green: Iraq/Kuwait/Egypt - dark blue: Sjarjah/Dubai/Abu Dhabi - Throw
Dice Again - Go To International Court - beige:
Oman/Telex/Bahrein/Qatar - Iran (blue green) - Lost in the dessert
(yellow) and Saudi Arabia (blue green).

Subject to the number of players the consessions are to be distributed
amongst them at the start of the game; the remainder must be bought.

The oiltycoons always move over the board by plane. Over or on TAKE
OFF you receive P$ 500,000.
There are 8 molded "gold" tokens representing an airplane - tanker -
sword - storage tank - bar of gold - barrel - drilling-rig and an
oil-rig. (The German and Dutch tokens are but plastic "emblems on a
base"). They are stored in a black vinyl pouch wilth "gold"
draw-strings. There is a black dice shaker felt-lined inside.
Typical for this edition is the keychain/timer, to set the game up to
60 minutes. This is a clever item because the game is fundamentally
played from time. The course of the game is divided into 3 stages:

Stage 1: The opening, playtime 10 minutes. In this stage those
oilconsessions who were not distributed amongst the players in the
first instance must be bought from the Worldbank now.
Stage 2: Trade and auction, playtime 5 - 10 minutes. The still unsold
oilconsessions must be sold or auctioned anyhow. Next the players can
trade together in order to complete color groups.
Stage 3: Main match, playtime 60 minutes. The oiltycoons can now open
up their properties by building drilling-rigs (instead of houses) and
finally oil-rigs (instead of hotels). For the rest the game works out
according to the usual rules.
All property cards are made of thick vinyl with gold lettering for
prices and interest rates.
The money consists of clumsy tiny (45 x 75 mm) but good looking
plastic laminated Petrodollar banknotes from the Worldbank. In the
centre is a circle with a dromedary (or camel?) with "IN OIL WE TRUST"
over it! The bills are in the amounts of P$1,000 - 5,000 - 10,000 -
20,000 - 50,000 - 100,000 and P$1,000,000 denominations.
Instead of Chance and Community Chest cards there are 25 Telex cards,
consisting of black paper with gold lettering. The instructions are
like:

 The radar of your private jet is out of order. You miss a turn. 
 You must appear in front of the Tribunal of The Hague - President of
the Tribunal.
 Heavy storm: important repairs on all the oil-rigs - Pay P$ 100,000 for each one. 

The card "Your political influence has helped to prove your innocence.
Keep this telex - President of the Tribunal." correspond consequently
with "Get out of Jail free".

From http://www.muurkrant.nl/monopoly/usa_related_games.htm

*********

I also located a game contents list at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5715
"1 board; 27 concession titles; 25 telex messages; 7 playing markers;
2 dice; 34 derricks; 14 oil platforms and 390 petrodollar bills."

And

"Publisher: Newfeld Limited 
Players: 2-7 
Playing Time: 90 Minutes"


It may be that a Researcher or Google Answers participant will have a
copy of the complete rules to share with you.  For now, I hope these
rules suffice.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

Dear  journalist-ga:
Great!!!. Basically this is what I needed.
The only thing missing is how many, 10,000's 20,000's and so on .
But your answer was basically absolutely perfect.
It brought me bak in time almost 30 years!!!.
Many thanks.

Quoth journalist-ga:
"...Lost in the dessert (yellow)..." 

Presumably this is custard.

:-)

This may take you down memory lane a bit further, if you haven't seen it:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5715