PORTRAIT IN OIL

by Hartzell Spence ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 31, 1962

Hartzell Spence's company-sponsored history of Marathon Oil (once called the Ohio), offers the new look in industrial management philosophy, the end of privateering-for-privateering's-sake, and the celebration of the corporate-social revolution. From its rugged Scots-Irish immigrant founder to its status today as a semi-public institution embedded in ten foreign lands, the company's tale proves energetic, even explosive, but hardly entertaining. Adventurous explorations marked the beginnings with low-cost drillings, Rocky Mountain roustabouts, old breed geologists, Spartan camp life and feuding heirs; then the rise of the auto, the development of the proration system, the entering into refining and retailing, hydrocarbons and petrochemicals, onwards through the Depression, the post-war natural gas boom and investigations in the Sahara. A fitting salute to a 75 year old organization with a Boy Scout motto and dreams of empire fulfilled.

Pub Date: Aug. 31, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1962

Categories: NONFICTION