29. Standard Oil faced increasing competition by the end of the 1880s
Until the mid-1880s over 80% of the world’s crude oil was recovered from the earth in the State of Pennsylvania. By the end of that decade competition was expanding around the world, from the oil fields in Russia, Asia, and the islands of the South Pacific. The creation of an entirely new type of ship – the oil tanker – made the recovery of crude from distant sources economically feasible. There was competition from another source as well. Electrical lighting, at first an amusement but more and more a practical source of illumination, began to decrease the demand for kerosene. Rockefeller’s companies expanded their marketing of natural gas as a means of light and heat, and also expanded their marketing of gasoline, inspired by another new piece of technology – the automobile and the internal combustion engine.