TEAPOT OIL RESERVE BEING DRAINED BY PRIVATE OPERATORS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 22, 1923, the Associated Press reports that the Wyoming naval oil reserve, Teapot Dome*, "is being drained so heavily by adjacent private operators that it will produce far less oil than originally predicted."
The reserve, leased last year to Harry F. Sinclair**, is being investigated by the Senate public lands committee. Geologists Frederick G. Clapp and James O. Lewis of New York, working in behalf of the committee, report that only 26 million of the original 135 million barrels remain.
The Senate inquiry was initiated by Senator Robert LaFollette (R-Wisconsin) who "assaulted the Sinclair lease as a colossal raid on valuable government property."
*Teapot Dome Oil Field was designated National Petroleum Reserve #3 in 1915 as part of a program to ensure the US Navy would have ample fuel reserves in an emergency.
**Henry Ford Sinclair (1876-1956) was born in Benwood, West Virginia & founded the Sinclair Oil Company. He was educated at the University of Kansas. HFS was implicated in the Teapot Dome Scandal & served 6 months in prison.
SOURCE
"Teapot Dome Oil Four-Fifths Gone Experts Disclose," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., October 22, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
