THE PETROLEUM CULTURE
139
In 1865, John D. Rockefeller exploited the discovery or petroleum
and founded Standard Oil based on a fledgling refinery business
in Cleveland, Ohio. Pipelines were built to bypass the high cost of
delivering the wooden barrels (formerly whiskey casks) and eventually these pipelines linked the Pennsylvania fields to railroads
which sent the oil and kerosene to markets in the industrialized
northeastern United States. During this time, Rockefeller bought
and consolidated the supply and distribution sectors under one
company banner making Standard Oil an effective and self-sustaining company.
In 1873, Russia also commenced development of a modern petroleum industry in Baku (Caucasus region). Oil has been produced
from this region for several hundred years — perhaps even millennia — but there was not regular industry in 1873. At the time, the
Nobel family, of Nobel Prize fame, purchased an embryonic refinery and commenced to increase oil production as well as distribution with the first efficient tanker ship.
A few years later, Marcus Samuel, the son of a London shell merchant, established an extensive trade business with Far Eastern
connections to ship kerosene to the rest of the world. He joined
forces with the Rothschild family, and in 1891, he was shipping the
illuminant oil from the Caucasus through the Suez Canal to Hong
Kong and the Dutch East Indies. At the same time, Royal Dutch Oil
was exploiting far eastern oil, and eventually Samuel's Shell Oil
and the Rothschild family joined the company to become known as
Royal Dutch Shell.
The production of automobiles by Henry Ford in 1896 spurred
demand for a liquid fuel to power the vehicles, and, to meet that
demand, prospecting for oil led to the discovery of the Spindletop
field in Beaumont, Texas, in 1900 followed by discoveries of oil
fields in California and in Oklahoma. This facilitated the birth of
more oil companies with names including Sun, Texaco, and Gulf.
Unfortunately, as had happened in Pennsylvania, over-production
in Texas resulting from poor reservoir management drove prices
down very quickly and the profit interests in petroleum were markedly diminished.
However, this did not kill the need for crude oil. Although it
did suffer setbacks in the early development of various fields, the
industry was resilient and expanded phenomenally as the demand
for petroleum products grew. The need for kerosene as a fuel for
illuminating lamps varied as electricity and the incandescent lights
139
In 1865, John D. Rockefeller exploited the discovery or petroleum
and founded Standard Oil based on a fledgling refinery business
in Cleveland, Ohio. Pipelines were built to bypass the high cost of
delivering the wooden barrels (formerly whiskey casks) and eventually these pipelines linked the Pennsylvania fields to railroads
which sent the oil and kerosene to markets in the industrialized
northeastern United States. During this time, Rockefeller bought
and consolidated the supply and distribution sectors under one
company banner making Standard Oil an effective and self-sustaining company.
In 1873, Russia also commenced development of a modern petroleum industry in Baku (Caucasus region). Oil has been produced
from this region for several hundred years — perhaps even millennia — but there was not regular industry in 1873. At the time, the
Nobel family, of Nobel Prize fame, purchased an embryonic refinery and commenced to increase oil production as well as distribution with the first efficient tanker ship.
A few years later, Marcus Samuel, the son of a London shell merchant, established an extensive trade business with Far Eastern
connections to ship kerosene to the rest of the world. He joined
forces with the Rothschild family, and in 1891, he was shipping the
illuminant oil from the Caucasus through the Suez Canal to Hong
Kong and the Dutch East Indies. At the same time, Royal Dutch Oil
was exploiting far eastern oil, and eventually Samuel's Shell Oil
and the Rothschild family joined the company to become known as
Royal Dutch Shell.
The production of automobiles by Henry Ford in 1896 spurred
demand for a liquid fuel to power the vehicles, and, to meet that
demand, prospecting for oil led to the discovery of the Spindletop
field in Beaumont, Texas, in 1900 followed by discoveries of oil
fields in California and in Oklahoma. This facilitated the birth of
more oil companies with names including Sun, Texaco, and Gulf.
Unfortunately, as had happened in Pennsylvania, over-production
in Texas resulting from poor reservoir management drove prices
down very quickly and the profit interests in petroleum were markedly diminished.
However, this did not kill the need for crude oil. Although it
did suffer setbacks in the early development of various fields, the
industry was resilient and expanded phenomenally as the demand
for petroleum products grew. The need for kerosene as a fuel for
illuminating lamps varied as electricity and the incandescent lights