International Market Developments

The history of the oil industry has been dominated by the early development of the US market. From 1860 to 1953, the US share in world oil production was more than 50%, with the exception of the period 1897 to 19031. The rapid expansion of the US market must be seen within the context of the availability of oil, legislation, the prevailing business environment and the technological advances of the US engineering industries at the beginning of the twentieth century, which stimulated demand for liquid rather than solid fuels.2 Although the oil industry was also developed in other regions of the world, the expansion of the.industry was limited by the absence of nearby consumer markets, the competition of domestic produced solid fuels, and transportation constraints.