Refiners, railroads, and Rockefeller
In the years following the success of the Drake well, the American petroleum industry experienced a remarkable rate of growth. Drawing on the rich heritage of technology and marketing experience of the late 1840's and the 1850's, oilmen developed a complex organization that was supplying a substantial portion of the illuminating and lubricating needs of consumers in the major marketing areas of the world.
In the early 1870's, the petroleum industry was in many respects typical of American businesses at the time. Producers, refiners, and marketers all operated overwhelmingly on an individual or partnership basis. Little capital was required to enter any phase of the industry and competition was vigorous at all levels.
Experience also revealed unusual hazards of engaging in an industry based upon a mineral resource whose discovery and output followed an
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Publication information:
Book title: The American Petroleum Industry:The Age of Illumination, 1859-1899.
Contributors: Harold F. Williamson - Author, Arnold R. Daum - Author.
Publisher: Northwestern University Press.
Place of publication: Evanston, IL.
Publication year: 1959.
Page number: 343.
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