Idarbell's The History Of Standard Oil

One of the major forces a company faces is competition in their given market. Standard Oil coined the term “a good sweating” to deal with competitors. In this move, Standard Oil Company would flood the market with oil, lowering prices until the competitor could not survive. This technique would be repeated by OPEC during the Third Oil Shock. For a long time, Standard Oil had the upper hand in the oil market. This encouraged other oil companies to band together, to challenge Standard’s control of the market. For example, in 1879, the Tidewater Pipeline was constructed by the Oil Region producers under a veil on deception. Standard responded by buying Tidewater stocks and building their own pipelines to Buffalo, Philadelphia, Cleveland and New

Standard Oil used many deceptive measures to achieve and maintain their share in the market. Their actions would launch a legacy of distrust in the oil industry, which would prove crucial later. The distrust would also extend to future generations of the Rockefeller family. When the chairman of Indiana was implicated in the Teapot Dome scandal, John D. Rockefeller Jr. insisted that he step down. Rockefeller Jr. was acting in the best interest of the company, but was met with accusations about his father. The actions of Standard were chronicled in Ida Tarbell’s The History of the Standard Oil. Standard and Rockefeller responded to these attacks by reaffirming that Standard had more good than harm for the industry. This publication would result in the government intervention in Standard Oil. In 1892, Standard Oil had to disband Standard Trust and transfer shares to 20 companies. However, the original owners still maintained control and the “Standard Oil Interests” group was formed. Standard’s continued corporate restructuring indicates how the company was trying to go around the rules, and still maintain their unfair advantage. However, the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt led to the total dismemberment of Standard Oil. This touches on the idea that those in power affect the success of oil efforts in a country. Deeply opposed to trusts, Roosevelt launched an investigation, that led to an antitrust suit against the company. In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled against Standard Oil and gave them six months to dissolve. The dismemberment of Standard Oil led to seven different companies, with no overlying management. The seven companies would continue to make moves in the oil industry, but the reign of Standard Oil was