| Industry | Oil exploration and production |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1923 |
| Founder | George F. Naphen and Joshua S. Cosden |
| Defunct | 1932 |
| Fate | acquired by Standard Oil |
| Headquarters | Venezuela |
Number of locations | Lake Maracaibo region |
| Products | Petroleum |
Lago Petroleum Corporation was an oil production company established by Americans in 1923 that exploited the oilfields in Lake Maracaibo. It was acquired by Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1932. Later it was nationalized.
Edward L. Doheny, who owned the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Co., controlled the Barco concession in Colombia through a subsidiary. He became interested in Venezuelan oil operations, including a pipeline from Colombia to Venezuela to reduce the cost of exporting the Colombian oil. After meetings between J.A. Coronil and Doheney's staff, the Lago Petroleum Co. was formed by Preston McGoodwin, Joshua S. Cosden and Payne Whitney Associates, and registered in Delaware on 12 April 1923. [1] British-Mexican Petroleum acquired about 25% of its stock. [2] In 1924 the company took over concessions that had been granted to the British Equatorial Oil Company in addition to properties it had purchased from twenty Venezuelans who had obtained them from General Juan Vicente Gómez, the military ruler of the country. [3]
C. Ledyard Blair's Blair & Co. and Chase Securities sold a controlling stake in Lago to Pan American Petroleum in a complex transaction at the end of 1925. [2] By the late 1920s a trio of foreign-controlled companies were operating in the eastern Lake Maracaibo region. Shell Oil had the Aranguren concession onshore. Gulf Oil had acquired the Creole Syndicate's leases in the strip of shallow water 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) wide along the lake shore. Standard of Indiana through Pan American owned Lago's operations in the lake bed. [4] In 1932 Pan American sold its foreign properties to Standard Oil of New Jersey for about $100 million. [5] The deal included Pan American's large oil concessions in Venezuela. [6] Lago Petroleum became a subsidiary of Creole Petroleum Corporation, now the Venezuelan subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey. Included in the sale were the Lago Oil and Transport Company and the Lago Shipping Company, and the finalized plans to build the Lago refinery, "the giant", on Aruba. [7] It later operated under the name Creole Petroleum Company, then under Standard Oil's name, Esso. [8] The company was nationalized [8] with the rest of the Venezuelan petroleum industry in 1976.
Lago [a] owned about 8,000 square miles (21,000 km2) of land in Lake Maracaibo, and produced about 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day. [2] Oil wells in Lake Maracaibo require drilling platforms. Wooden pilings to support the platforms were vulnerable to teredo worms. Lago Petroleum pioneered use of concrete pilings pre-fitted with steel heads and tied together with steel ropes. [8] Lago's techniques, including use of barges to move heavy equipment around, made the cost of drilling on water lower than that of drilling on land, although taxes and royalties had been set lower by the government on the assumption that costs would be higher. The company did not spend money on exploration, but simply drilled wells into the La Rosa field. [9]
Lago discovered the valuable Tía Juana field in 1928. [10] Standard of Indiana obtained land on Aruba from the Dutch government, built a tanker terminal and refinery there, and started shipping Lago's crude to Aruba in 1925. In 1929 Lago had 129 active wells in the lake. In 1929 nineteen lake tankers carried 37 million barrels of crude to the huge refinery being built at the Aruba terminal. [11] Production was inefficient. Since the three competing companies were draining a common reservoir, each had an interest in extracting oil as quickly as possible, although a more deliberate pace would have given greater total output. At times, hastily built wells collapsed, oil gushed into the lake and caught fire, burning rigs and equipment. [12]
Lago employed Chinese and West Indians as well as Venezuelans, using competition between these groups to keep pay low. [13] The government saw these foreign workers as a source of labor unrest, and in 1929 prohibited further entry of Afro-Caribbean and Chinese workers and demanded that existing workers have a certificate of employment and good conduct. [14] Lago employed about 1,400 workers during the 1930s, mostly based in Lagunillas and La Salina in La Guira State
. [15] In 1939 Lago said its employees included 268 foreigners and 3,119 Venezuelans. Most of the local people were simply day laborers. [16]
The history of the petroleum industry in the United States goes back to the early 19th century, although the indigenous peoples, like many ancient societies, have used petroleum seeps since prehistoric times; where found, these seeps signaled the growth of the industry from the earliest discoveries to the more recent.
The economy of Aruba is an open system, with tourism currently providing the largest percentage of the country's income. Because of tourism's rapid growth in the last 80 years, related industries like construction have also flourished in Aruba. Other primary industries include oil refining and storage, as well as offshore banking. Despite the island's low rainfall in the past year, the people have proven that Aruba's soil is full of nutrients and many crops do amazingly well in the soil. Many more locals have started participating more to horticulture, permaculture and agriculture. Creating a start to an internal economy. Aloe cultivation, livestock, and fishing also contribute to Aruba's economy. In addition, the country also exports art and collectibles, machinery, electrical equipment, and transport equipment. Aruba's small labor force and low unemployment rate have led to many unfilled job vacancies, despite sharp rises in wage rates in recent years.
Lake Maracaibo is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or semi-enclosed bay connected to the Gulf of Venezuela. With a surface area of 13,512 km2 (5,217 sq mi), if counted as a lake it would be the largest in South America, ahead of Lake Titicaca, as well as one of the oldest lakes on Earth, having formed 36 million years ago in the Andes Mountains.
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number of shares, effectively nationalizing the company. It was the first company to extract petroleum from Iran. In 1935 APOC was renamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) when Reza Shah formally asked foreign countries to refer to Persia by its endonym Iran.
Edward Laurence Doheny was an American oil tycoon who, in 1892, drilled the first successful oil well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field. His success set off a petroleum boom in Southern California, and made him a fortune when, in 1902, he sold his properties.
The Maracaibo Basin, also known as Lake Maracaibo natural region, Lake Maracaibo depression or Lake Maracaibo Lowlands, is a foreland basin and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, found in the northwestern corner of Venezuela in South America. Covering over 36,657 square km, it is a hydrocarbon-rich region that has produced over 30 billion bbl of oil with an estimated 44 billion bbl yet to be recovered. The basin is characterized by a large shallow tidal estuary, Lake Maracaibo, located near its center. The Maracaibo basin has a complex tectonic history that dates back to the Jurassic period with multiple evolution stages. Despite its complexity, these major tectonic stages are well preserved within its stratigraphy. This makes The Maracaibo basin one of the most valuable basins for reconstructing South America's early tectonic history.
Lago Colony was a community located on the east end of the island of Aruba, near the area presently known as Seroe Colorado.
Lake tankers were small specially designed shallow-draft tanker ships that carried the crude oil, pumped from beneath Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, to the three off-shore refineries located on the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curaçao.
Lago Oil & Transport Co. Ltd. was established in 1924 as a shipping company responsible for transporting crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to its transshipment facility on the island of Aruba. The Lago refinery, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company (Exxon), remained in operation until March 31, 1985 when Exxon made the decision to shut down and dismantle both the refinery and Lago Colony.
SS Pedernales was a lake tanker of the World War II and post war eras. She was built in 1938 in Monfalcone, Italy, and sailed under the British flag. Pedernales was severely damaged in a torpedo attack on 16 February 1942 while anchored at Aruba.
While the local use of oil goes back many centuries, the modern petroleum industry along with its outputs and modern applications are of a recent origin. Petroleum's status as a key component of politics, society, and technology has its roots in the coal and kerosene industry of the late nineteenth century. One of the earliest instances of this is the refining of paraffin from crude oil. Abraham Gesner developed a process to refine a liquid fuel from coal, bitumen and oil shale; it burned more cleanly and was cheaper than whale oil. James Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage when he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a thicker oil suitable for lubricating machinery. The world's first refineries and modern oil wells were established in the mid-nineteenth century. While petroleum industries developed in several countries during the nineteenth century, the two giants were the United States and the Russian Empire, specifically that part of it that today forms the territory of independent Azerbaijan. Together, these two countries produced 97% of the world's oil over the course of the nineteenth century.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves at an estimated 304 billion barrels as of 2020. The country was once one of the world's largest exporters of oil. Oil production peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The attack on Aruba was an attack on oil installations and tankers by Axis submarines during World War II. On 16 February 1942, a German U-boat attacked the small Dutch island of Aruba. Other submarines patrolled the area for shipping and they sank or damaged tankers. Aruba was home to two of the largest oil refineries in the world during the war against the Axis powers, the Arend Petroleum Company, situated near the Oranjestad harbor, and the Lago Oil and Transport Company at the San Nicolas harbor. The attack resulted in the disruption of vital Allied fuel production.
Lake Guanoco is the world's second largest natural tar pit and lies in Venezuela in northern South America.
The Creole Petroleum Corporation was an American oil company. It was formed in 1920 to produce fields on Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. The company was acquired by Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1928. Until 1951 Creole Petroleum was the world's number one oil producer.
Operation Neuland was the code name of the Kriegsmarine extension of unrestricted submarine warfare into the Caribbean Sea during World War II. U-boats demonstrated range to disrupt United Kingdom petroleum supplies and United States aluminum supplies which had not been anticipated by Allied pre-war planning. Although the area remained vulnerable to submarines for several months, U-boats never again enjoyed the opportunities for success resulting from the surprise of this operation.
The Barco oil concession was one of the main concessions in Colombia during the early development of its petroleum industry, the other being the De Mares concession. Oil was first found in the Norte de Santander department near the border with Venezuela in 1905, but development did not start until 1936. A joint venture between the Texas Corporation and Socony-Vacuum sank the wells and built a 263-mile (423 km) pipeline across the mountains and through swampy jungle to the Caribbean coast at Coveñas. Workers were harassed by Motilone people defending their territory, and several died. The concession began operation in 1939 and continued into the 1960s, when it began to be depleted. Other fields in the region are still productive.
The Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company (PAT) was an oil company founded in 1916 by the American oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny after he had made a huge oil strike in Mexico. Pan American profited from fuel demand during World War I, and from the subsequent growth in use of automobiles. For several years Pan American was the largest American oil company, with holdings in the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. In 1924 Pan American was involved in the Teapot Dome scandal over irregularities in the award of a U.S. government oil concession. Standard Oil of Indiana obtained a majority stake in 1925. The company sold its foreign properties to Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1932. What was left of Pan American was merged with Standard Oil of Indiana in 1954 to form Amoco.
Esso Maracaibo was a tanker of the Creole Petroleum Corporation. She was the second ship of that enterprise to bear that name, the first one having been USS Narraguagas. Its purpose was to transport crude oil between Lake Maracaibo and Aruba. It made international headlines on 6 April 1964, when it rammed the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge, causing two spans of it to collapse.
The Arend Petroleum Company Ltd. was originally established in 1927 as "Compania Mexicana de Petrol el Aquila" on the island of Aruba. However, it underwent a name change and became more commonly known as "Arend" or "Eagle". The Arend was a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. The government generously granted a broad coastal strip at Druif Beach of approximately 5 kilometres in length.
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