The Rise of American Oil and the Competitive International Industry (3:36 minutes)
Transcript: The Rise of American Oil and the Competitive International Industry (3:36minutes)
It has been one of the most
impactful and life changing substances
ever discovered by civilization.
It affects our lives every day,
has helped shape the development of nations,
influenced the course of world wars,
driven regional conflicts,
and altered the global economy.
We're talking about oil.
It is so integral to our day to day lives and
economy that we take it for
granted most of the time,
except when it is either in
short supply or priced very high.
Then we notice how important it
is welcome to oil international evolution.
In this course, we will learn about
the oil industry and
how it has evolved over time.
We will do this by
going through two textbooks,
the Prize and the Quest,
both by Daniel Jurgen.
One of the things you have seen already in
this lesson is that the history of
oil is much more than about the oil itself.
This industry, unlike any other,
had significant influence on how
business and capitalism itself evolved.
Also, the oil industry has altered
military strategy and how
countries think about national security.
And it has influenced how
the government regulates industry in general.
Today, we're used to dealing with
big business players like Amazon,
Apple, Microsoft, Coca Cola, and others.
But those businesses were
influenced by the oil industry and how
our government controls
competition and monopolies was
also the result of
those early days of the oil industry.
In this first lesson, we
started in the mid 1800s,
the birth of the modern day oil industry.
Right away we saw how many
uses of oil there really
are and how those uses
have changed over time.
The early 1800s were
days of finding oil almost by accident,
whereas today we think about how to
replace fossil fuels with renewables.
In those early days, they were
thinking about replacing whale oil,
used for lighting, and as a lubricate.
In this course, I hope you see it
as more than a tedious walk through history.
Let me identify a few things
I hope you keep in
mind for the semester
now that we have gone through less than one.
First, realize
that what you've just learned about in
the 1800s has directly
influenced the oil industry today,
and frankly, our entire life and economy.
Think about what you read and how it
relates to what you experienced today.
A great example is going to
the gas station prices
seem to change all the time
and bounce around wildly.
Why is that? Second, the birth of
an industry takes perseverance, courage,
the ability to accept failure,
the ability to overcome
seemingly insurmountable odds,
and a very strong sense of entrepreneurship.
Were it not for some very tough individuals
who wouldn't take no for an answer,
we wouldn't have the lifestyle
we have come to enjoy today.
Third, for society to advance,
it needs to innovate and experiment.
If we had settled for the
status quo back then,
we would still be heating and
lighting with whale oil and riding horses.
Fourth, I hope you
recognize that it is Oil is foundational
to the national economies
national security and for
the success of nearly every
other industrial sector that exists.
I have
a personal connection to this industry.
I am a petroleum geologist
and started my career doing
oil and gas exploration
and production for Mobil.
Oil today, you know,
mobile as Exxon Mobil.
And we will learn how
those companies came to be.
I participated in this
sector for a period of time in
the 18 1980s and
future lessons we will
learn what was going on.
Then I hope to share with you
some personal accounts to
illustrate and bring
to life what you will read.
I look forward to walking with
you on this exciting journey.
Credit: Edwin Pinero © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0