[maxehnert]

Since oil is making the front page here, if you're interested in the history of American oil industry, "The History of the Standard Oil Company" by Ida Tarbell is a fantastic read. It's also a great example of investigative journalism.

In early chapters of the book she covers the initial rush to pump oil in the Oil Regions and the history of pipelines and storage facilities as it all ties into business practices of Rockefeller.

Oil storage facilities were an interesting startup idea back then, in the beginning producers would pump the oil into open pits where it would seep back into the ground if it wasn't transferred fast enough, then of course new ways of storing and transporting the oil were experimented with. It also goes into how much supply/demand were at odds in the beginning leading to several collapses in the price of oil when there wasn't such a diverse market. Again some of the issues we still see where land locked areas of producers struggled to get their product out of the region and how local economies caused drastic prices differences that we're seeing right now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Standard_Oi...

[new_time]

Ida Tarbell's father was an oilman who was ruined by Rockefeller and Standard Oil while she was a girl, which is important to keep in mind when contextualizing her work. She lived her life in part as a crusade against Standard Oil and Rockefeller. Obviously she was heavily biased, this being instilled in her early on.

For a less biased look at the history of the American oil industry by way of Rockefeller and Standard Oil, I strongly recommend Titan by Ron Chernow - author of Hamilton - which is an excellent account of Rockefeller and Standard Oil, both the good and the bad.

[CPLX]

Also recommend "The Prize" which is incredible.

[mistrial9]

recommend -- The Taking of Getty Oil by Steve Coll; written in a readable way, many situational details