Petroleum Politics and the Texas Railroad Commission (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation Series)

Yes it was boring but i love boring because it is usually informative. Most people cannot hold attention for more than a minute if something is not entertaining. I liked this book because it had the information I was looking for. My efforts to understand "the system" the "construct" were quantified by reading this boring book.The author is a pretty cool dude too. He answered my email, FYI he has no recent updates to the information in this book which was written many years ago.If you like information and want to know kore about "Commissioners" and the petro industry and the government behind the government you'll want to read this boom.

History of the early years of the developing oil industry, written for the layman, with all the ins and outs of political shenanigans and regulatory incompetence. Interesting description of major fields and their development. Demonstrates how the Commission floundered on every issue, influenced by economic interests from property owning politicians and judges.Once issues and conflicts were more or less worked out by all the multiple parties involved, taking years, the Commission agreed on rulings, claiming credit for resolving the issues. Surprisingly, though reporting all of this, the author sees the Commission as a useful, honorable institution.Basically, the Commission acted to limit production per well and per property in order to keep the price of oil high. This forced the large companies (which found the oil) to meet demand by buying from small producers and to extend their operations to ranches, farms, etc., and kept the price high enough to justify this.Politicians recognized that there were more farmer and rancher votes than oil company votes. And while this caused higher gasoline prices, the general public had no organization and little grasp of the political manipulations.