Standard Oil
Everyone knows who John D. Rockefeller is, but who are Maurice B. Clark, and Samuel Andrews? They were the co-owners of one of the biggest companies on the planet in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. During 1863 these three men joined up in Cleveland, Ohio and started an oil-refining business. Rockefeller and his firm “was operating the largest refineries in Cleveland, and these and related facilities became the property of the new Standard Oil Company, incorporated in Ohio in 1870.”1 During 1882 nine trustees signed the Standard Oil and Trust Agreement, to combine companies into the Standard Oil Trust. “By the agreement, companies could be purchased, created, dissolved, merged, or divided; eventually, the trustees governed some
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“Rockefeller built an empire in a world without automobiles, finding profit by selling kerosene and lamp oil. By the turn of the century, the internal-combustion engine was generating demand for a new product: gasoline.”4 In comes the Lone Star State, to solve the worlds energy problem “Jan. 10, 1901, the modern American oil industry began on Spindletop Hill, south of Beaumont, Texas.”4 The big hill, located 4 miles south of Beaumont, Texas was formed millions of years ago with a giant underground dome made of salt. A man named Anthony Lucas from Austria, a former salt miner, was baffled at this big hill, which was actually only 12 feet high in elevation over the prairie lands. Lucas contacted some Pennsylvania oilmen for some help. The Pennsylvanian’s travel to Texas, surveyed a nice spot on the hill, and on October 27, 1900 the gusher was spudded. Spindletop had been drilled before, but never by a rotary drilling rig. Drilling is difficult at first. “There is little in the way of rock at the surface in that part of the world. Instead, oil wildcatters had to drill through several hundred feet of sand,”5 Due to the high sand content the well continually caved in, and one of the Pennsylvanians decided to try mud instead of water to help. This advancement changed the game for drilling, and is still used to drill wells today. The “Lucas Gusher” will erupt more than 150 feet into the air. It begins flowing at an astounding 100,000 barrels per day from a depth of 1,010
"Soon the 4-inch drill pipe…shot skyward. After the mud, water, and pipe were blown out, gas followed, but only for a short time. Then the well was very quiet. We ventured back, after our wild scramble for safety, to find things in a terrible mess...We started shoveling the mud away-when, without warning, a lot of heavy mud shot out of the well with the report of a cannon…In a very short time oil was going up through the top of the derricks, and rocks were being shot hundreds of feet into the air. Within a very few minutes, the oil was holding a steady flow at more than twice the height of the derrick…”
Oil has been an important resource of energy in America “since the discovery of the Spindletop geyser in 1901. It drove huge growth in the oil industry in America. Within a year, more than 1,500 oil companies had been chartered, and oil became the dominant fuel of the 20th century and an integral part of the American economy” (History.com Staff). This had developed the construction of pipelines to move the oil within the country and offshore in coastal waters. Recently, the federal government approved the construction of a new pipeline that would be transporting crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
On January 10, 1901, a huge geyser of oil exploded from a drilling site at Spindle top Hill, by an underground salt deposit located near Beaumont in Jefferson County, southeastern Texas. Reaching a height of more than 150 feet, the “gusher” was more powerful than any previously seen in the world. A booming oil industry soon grew up around the oil field at Spindle top, and many of the major oil companies in America.
Rockefeller was a smart business man; he borrowed money to take control of the refinery and buy out its competitors. Standard began using its power to make deals with railroads to ship its oil. They even bought terminals and pipelines. The Standard Oil Company had then consolidated almost every refinery in the nation under the Standard Oil Trust, and Rockefeller was in charge of it all. All of this control lead Rockefeller to become the wealthiest man in U.S. history. This was the first monopoly case in America, pathing the way for more big business leaders in the future. Congress saw this unfair monopoly and passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, the first federal legislation prohibiting trusts and arrangements that restrained
Another way by which Standard Oil was able to expand was when Rockefeller became worried about the overproduction of oil, which would lead to falling prices. Due to his worries, Rockefeller made up a plan with an alliance of refiners (people who owned the oil processing plants). By the end of 1872, Standard Oil had acquired 34 former rivals, taken control of Cleveland, made alliances with several key New York refiners, and secured even lower shipping rates . Due to such low shipping rates, Standard Oil began to produce other products such as lubricants, candles, paints, and dyes.
By 1937 John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in all of US history at a net worth of 340 Billion dollars in today's money which is more than three times the net worth of the current richest person alive: Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of about 100 billion US dollars. John D. Rockefeller had created a large monopoly in producing, refining, transporting, and marketing oil which allowed him the ability to acquire such a large amount of business and therefore profits(“John D. Rockefeller Forms the Standard Oil Trust: 1882.”). Although some say that his practices were unethical there is no denying his help in founding American business. John D. Rockefeller's early life, business, impact on others, and life as a philanthropist all affected his
This career started with the discovery of oil in 1859 when Edwin Drake had the first commercial oil rig. The pipes started out being simple, by starting at the drill hole and going to the tank or refinery as long as it was close. In the early 1900’s, John D Rockefeller became the most powerful man in the world, controlling most of the world's oil. After a few years, the government put a stop to Rockefeller’s rein and distributed the wealth. In the 1920’s, the pipeline grew to over 115,000 miles of pipe, almost tripling in size. During WWII, pipelines went from Texas and Oklahoma to the east coast making it faster and more efficient. That in return made production of war materials grow rapidly. In the 50’s, the United States became explorers
In 1865, Rockefeller acquired cash to purchase out some of his accomplices and take control of the refinery, which had turned into the biggest in Cleveland. Throughout the following couple of years, he gained new accomplices and extended his business advantages in the developing oil industry. At the time, lamp oil, got from oil and utilized as a part of lights, was turning into a monetary staple. In 1870, Rockefeller shaped the Standard Oil Organization of Ohio, alongside his more youthful sibling William (1841-1922), Henry Flagler (1830-1913) and a gathering of other men. John Rockefeller was its leader and biggest investor.
Have you ever wondered how we get gas for a cars ,lawnmowers, and other petroleum powered devices ? in order to know we have to go back to the beginning or where it all started. America paved the way for petroleum products , we practically created the industry . It all started with a man named Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie created an oil empire he controlled the drilling , transportation and refining of oil. But soon the industry was crowded with new competitors , one of these competitors was John Rockefeller ,John rockefeller would soon put Carnegie out of business. The Petroleum industry lead america into some of the world's greatest inventions, america had used the discovery of petroleum as a way to make life easier. We created cars, motorcycles
I chose to watch episode number one. It showcase the story of John D. Rockefeller. He was known for his great accomplishment to be the founder of Standard Oil Company. When he first comes into the show he had just cheated death. Avoiding a near train accident on his way to meet up with Vanderbilt.
With the United States current demand for oil at roughly 20 million barrels per day, this resource could potential last for another 400 years. These types of numbers suggest that if low-cost production methods can be developed and used effectively to recover the oil, the economic benefits would be great. In the following paper I intend to give clear and succinct information on how oil shale was deposited in the Greater Green River Basin, what it is made of, what was the maturation history of the shale, how the oil is recovered from very impermeable sedimentary units, how economics will play a role in its future as a reliable energy source, as well as the environmental impact of oil production in the basin.
Rockefeller- Oil King, created the Standard Oil Company and followed horizontal integration by allying with competitors to monopolize the market (owned 90-95% of oil in U.S.)
Natural gas is one very important fossil fuel and from its various uses, its numbers have continued to dwindle. Supply and demand has taken a toll on this very precious commodity. Ordinary vertical drilling of natural gas has ceased to produce much and this once prevalent method may eventually end up becoming obsolete. In the 1990’s a different method that was being used, but wasn’t common, caught some attention and is called horizontal hydraulic fracturing or fracking for short. Since the method of fracking was first used in 1940, it has gradually changed and is now combined with a new strategy of drilling horizontally. This new way of drilling helps to reach vast amounts of previously inaccessible gases and oils that are stuck in shale. According to oil industries Devon energy, Chesapeake, and Halliburton’s estimates, around 827 million cubic feet of untapped gases and oils are under the U. S. but may not be as easily accessible as once thought (Mooney 80-85).
Eventually, the massive group of companies became known as simply, the Standard Oil Trust. At this point, Standard Oil was over 90% of all oil companies in the nation. In the prime of his business, he began experiencing depression and later found he had alopecia. This disease caused him to lose all of his body hair, because of this he began to wear wigs. Local doctors suggested that he not work so much. As successful as Rockefeller and his oil business were, success almost always brings envy and hate.
Rockefeller worked through many jobs up until he joined the oil business by investing in a refinery in Cleveland.