Blowback of Piracy
The first commercial oil well was established in 1859 in Titusville, Pennsylvania, USA. By 1900, about 94% of the world’s oil came from the USA and Russia. During that same time the British Empire was known as the “workshop of the world,” and was powered by massive domestic coal reserves. They controlled about 25% of the Earth’s land surface and population, but produced less than 0.5% of the oil. This became a major dilemma for the British Navy if they were ever to switch from coal to oil.