Comments on: Hidden History: Oil Won World War II

By: Echo

Echo — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 21:03:52 +0000

jet fuel–>aviation fuel.

My father worked with a man who marched to Moscow with horses towing his guns, envying the elite motorized artillery units. When everyone was walking back, he said, the motorized units envied his horse-steak dinners.

Crude oil production was important, but just as important was the US’s tremendously advanced refining and chemicals industry. You don’t turn poor quality lamp oil into high octane avgas or styrene for synthetic rubber without a massive, well-integrated industry that doesn’t have to deal with constant bombing raids.
And that’s not even considering how much gasified hydrogen and benzene you need to make explosives.

By: Aguila1952

Aguila1952 — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 04:47:05 +0000

It is great to read about the brilliant planning and efforts that went on back home during the war effort. Everyone hears about the combat stories but seldom are told the unsung stories of the hard work that was crucial to the success of the overall war effort. I somehow doubt such thought or quick action would be taken today in the event of a national emergency or crisis.

This was an excellent article and my hat is off to Ryan. Great job!

By: peterike

peterike — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:54:33 +0000

“Few, if any, give a nod to the good roustabouts, pipeline architects and petroleum engineers that made everything go.”

Well of course not, because these are all very much the wrong type of white male. Even now, it is largely the work of white males that keeps our energy infrastructure going.

By: Red

Red — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 02:21:03 +0000

The Germans had no chance of taking the oil fields of Russia. The Russians were way to good at destroying everything in the face of German advances and the few oil fields they captured where destoyer beyond repair. Of course the Soviet army without oil wouldn’t have last long which is why the most valiblable allied import was American deseasil fuel.

By: Ryan Landry

Ryan Landry — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 23:20:13 +0000

Thanks Stirner. I left out the Big Inch but the infrastructure build out and production increases are legendary. We ended up creating a problem of market not production for after the war and then likewise during the initial stages of Arab-Persian Gulf production.

By: Stirner

Stirner — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 19:45:15 +0000

Nice writeup. For infrastructure nerds out there, a few other interesting details.

The safety of the US oil supply was something the US achieved, rather than had at the start of WWII. The “Big Inch” Pipeline from Texas to the Northeast was quite an achievement in a short span of time:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Inch

There is also Operation Pluto – the undersea petroleum cable between the UK and Normandy, that was laid shortly after D-Day, and helped fuel the allied war machine on the continent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pluto

By: Eddie Willers

Eddie Willers — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 19:17:36 +0000

Good article and food for thought.

It reminded me of the time I lived on the Mexican Gulf Coast, in an oil-producing town, and coming across a monument to the dead of the six Pemex tankers sunk in the 1942 Gulf Campaign.

Mexico had been neutral, up to that point, although supplying men (in the form of migrants, who could join the US military or work in agriculture) and materiel (mainly oil). The sinking of these ships gave them a solid casus belli for joining the Allies formally.