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The consequence of the oil strikes of the decade was to collapse prices for oil. Wildcatters and independent oilmen moved into the new oil fields and pulled the crude from the ground as fast as they could, saturating the market. In 1926 oil had sold in Texas for $1.85 a barrel; by 1930 the price was a dollar a barrel; by 1931 oil was between two and six cents a barrel — almost eighty cents lower than the cost of production. The situation would have been an unmitigated disaster were it not for decreased demand because of the Depression, but the Depression also supplied a steady stream of desperate wildcatters and novice oilmen seeking to strike it rich. Established businessmen and oil companies feared "competitive suicide" for the entire industry. By 1931 they were seeking various ways to reduce oil supplies and drive up prices: "A dollar a barrel" became...
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This section contains 158 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
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