Henry Latham Doherty
| Henry Latham Doherty | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
May 15, 1870 Columbus, Ohio |
| Died | December 26, 1939 (aged 69) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Investor, oilman |
| Years active | 1882–1939 |
| Notable work | Founded Cities Service Company (now Citgo) |
| Spouse(s) | Grace Eames |
Henry Latham Doherty (1870–1939) was an Irish-American financier and oilman, a native of Columbus, Ohio, who in 1910 created the Cities Service Company, a utility holding company, which later became CITGO Petroleum Corporation.
Doherty was first hired by the Columbus Gas Company at the age of 12. Rose reportedly wrote years later, "I could not get along in school...and under expulsion a large part of the time I was supposed to be in school." He made such a favorable impression with his knowledge and devotion to work that CGC management assigned him to take charge of a subsidiary company, a declining utility in Wisconsin. By the age of 20, he held the title of Chief Engineer at CGC.
In June 1899, the Emerson McMillan & Company, a financial company that invested in utility companies, had sent one of its senior executives, George T. Thompson, to the Denver Gas & Electric Company as president. Thompson died on October 1, 1900, McMillan asked Doherty to replace Thompson. On October 18, Doherty became acting president and treasurer of the Denver Gas & Electric Company.
In 1905, he started Henry L. Doherty & Co., which provided technical and financial consulting services to utility companies. In 1905, he founded his own holding company, Cities Service, which held the stock of energy companies he had bought previously. Cities Service bought the holdings of Theodore N. Barnsdall, founder of Barnsdall Oil Company, in 1912.
In 1916, he established the Doherty Energy Research Laboratory Co. (DORELCO) in Bartlesville, Oklahoma to advance his theories about field unitization as a means of oil conservation and as a location to train petroleum geologists and engineers. He received numerous awards and recognition for his contributions to the development of scientific methodology in the petroleum industry.
Doherty was awarded the Franklin Institute's Walton Clark Medal in 1931. In 1969, Columbia University added his name to the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, after he made a large contribution.
The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) required that a company like Cities Service divest itself of either its electric utility holdings or its other energy companies. Cities Service chose to sell off its utilities and remain in the oil and gas business. The first steps to liquidate investments in its public utilities were taken in 1943 and affected over 250 different utility corporations.
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