Chapter Ten

History

In this chapter lies a fascinating, enlightening, and sobering detailed history of the evolution of oil, fuel, and fuel economy. From the first oil well in 1859 to the crisis in the Middle East today, many events have occurred. Some of the more important ones are discussed below.

1850
Alcohol replaces whale oil - in lamps by the mid-1800s. It was clean and odorless.

1859
Oil discovered - by Colonial Drake at Oil Creek, Pennsylvania.
Crude oil demand - reaches 10 barrels/day.

1872
U.S. Mining Law - gets passed. Among other things, it gives private citizens access to public oil shale lands.

1876
First modern internal combustion engine - runs on alcohol or gasoline. It was known as the Otto cycle.

1880
90% of the U.S. refinery capacity - is controlled by John D. Rockefeller.

1890
Sherman Antitrust Act - gets passed. It is designed to protect the free marketplace from: monopolies, price fixing, unfair company mergers, controlling markets, inside deals, interwoven directorates, etc. In the years ahead, it is seldom used.

1897
Petroleum Placer Act - gets passed.

1906
U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission - is granted authority to prevent oil companies from using pipelines to create monopoly conditions. In the years to come, this authority remains largely unused.

1908
Ford Model T Car - is built with adjustable carburetor, allowing easy modification to run engine on pure alcohol.

1914
Oil is discovered in Venezuela - by Shell Oil.

1918
Pogue Carburetor design - started by its inventor Charles Pogue.

1919
Commercial benzole fuel - was successfully used in a Sunbeam car driving a 10,000 mile road test. The car performed well with no adverse effects. The engine was torn down and revealed the following: no corrosive or tarlike deposits, and less carbon deposits less gasoline.

1920
Petroleum shortages - in the last 5 years lead to filing of numerous placer claims on oil shale deposits.
Minerals Land Leasing Act - ends the direct ability of private citizen access to Federal oil shale lands by imposing a leasing process.

1921
Fish Carburetor - gets patented.

1924
Teapot Dome Scandal - erupts. Interior Secretary Albert Hall is charged with accepting bribes from oilmen Edward Doheny and Harry Sinclair to avoid competitive leasing of the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 field (Teapot Dome) in Wyoming. Hall is sentenced to 1 year in prison in 1931.

1926
Oil depletion allowance - gets established at 27.5%.

1927
Pogue starts filing patents - for his carburetion improvements in the United States. Five known U.S. patents are issued between 1930 and

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