Print
Word
PDF|
This section contains 259 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
|
Hunt's fortune was by no means assured. He was the richest single owner of oil in the field, but he was not the only owner in the field. It was the Depression: thousands flocked to the site hoping to strike it rich. Their wells tapped the same reservoir as did Hunt's; overproduction was bleeding the field dry and driving the prices terribly low. By the spring of 1931 oil was selling for two cents a barrel on the spot market. The boom was turning to bust. Hunt joined forces with the major oil companies to ask the government to shut down oil production and proration it — that is, limit the number of barrels that could be taken out of the ground. Their lobbying efforts were successful. On 16 August 1931 the governor of Texas sent in twelve hundred National Guard troops and shut down the oil field. When he...
|
This section contains 259 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
|
