Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company - Oil Industry

Today the top five sources of oil include Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Nigeria. Oil was first discovered in bodies of water. It proved to be smelly, smoky and expensive. The oil industry the first 40 years was a kerosene business, competing with other animal fat oils. The oil industry would soon expand and prove social unrest, pollution and financial ups and downs.

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In the 1850s West Pennsylvania became a hot spot. The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company was created. First started as for curing purposes. Then this "rock oil was" refined and turned into kerosene used for lights and lamps, the new illuminant. In 1857, Edwin Drake came to explore for oil a retired railway conductor. 1859, Uncle Billy drilled the first oil. Drakes well erupts and proved oil could be produced in abundance. In the 1860's everyone was in a race to get oil, wells were put everywhere. In the first year 75 wells were in effect. This was negative because it was inefficient and oil depleted very rapidly. Oil fever struck a peak after the civil war after a region called pit hole was discovered. After 500 days grew out.

There was no system in place for control, just suck as much out as you could. Within two years, all this oil was virtually exhausted.

John D Rockefeller would shortly become the richest man of this time after starting standard oil. Railroads came to the oil region after 1865 this meant that Cleveland began to compete for oil. Rockefeller was always conscious of cost, wanted to save a penny anywhere he could. Railroads gave Rockefeller special rates. By the 80's the oil industry was in trouble. In 1871 Rockefeller received drawbacks when in workings with the south improvement company. Freight rates were going up at the time. After competitors found out about Rockefeller's special treatment of cheaper prices, this was the beginning of the oil wars. Competitors were losing so much money and Rockefeller eventually put almost all other companies out of business. Including foreign oil such as Russia. Standard oil owned about 90% of the oil refined in the U.S., Rockefeller had monopolized its transport. British Company Shell challenged S.O. with its competitive edge through the use of the Suez Canal. At the end of the 1870's the first long distance pipeline came about. It succeeded and Rockefeller built more. This proved quicker and further transport. But in the 1890s Britain moved greater volume of oil than the U.S.

Once Automobiles were created, Henry ford created a whole new need for petroleum. But at the time Edison created the electric car. The economy had cheap and unlimited oil for gas cars. Texas is then hit with the money. Spindletop Texas erupts with oil, Sun and Texaco companies came about. They wanted to protect this oil from Rockefeller, passing anti S.O legislation. In the 1910s companies still search for more oil.

Iraq became the new hot spot. The Turkish Petroleum Company arose, the Germans were courting the Turks and the British became alarmed. Gulbenkian ( mr 5%, key to Iraq) said they should join in order to receive Mesopotamian oil. If they all compete no one will get anywhere so his idea was to get the countries/companies all together. Oil helped win the war. But with everyone drilling and inefficiently there became