Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company
| Industry | Oil exploration and production |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1916 |
| Founder | Edward L. Doheny |
| Defunct | 1954 |
| Headquarters | United States, Mexico, Colombia |
| Products | Petroleum |
The Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company (PAT) was an oil company founded in 1916 by the American oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny after he had made a huge oil strike in Mexico. Pan American profited from fuel demand during World War I, and from the subsequent growth in use of automobiles. For several years Pan American was the largest American oil company, with holdings in the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. In 1924 Pan American was involved in the Teapot Dome scandal over irregularities in the award of a U.S. government oil concession. Standard Oil of Indiana obtained a majority stake in 1925. The company sold its foreign properties to Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1932. What was left of Pan American was merged with Standard Oil of Indiana in 1954 to form Amoco.
Edward L. Doheny was a prospector who became wealthy in the 1880s from silver mines in the Black Range of New Mexico. In 1892 he moved with his family to Los Angeles, where he sank a mine and found oil at the corner of Patton Street and West State Street. This began an oil boom in Los Angeles. Doheny overextended himself and his company went bankrupt in August 1896. The setback was temporary, and a long-term contract with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway gave him the opportunity to develop and expand a growing number of oil properties. In 1900 he visited Mexico with his associate Charles A. Canfield and Almon Porter Maginnis of the Santa Fe railroad, saw the oil potential of the country near Tampico, Tamaulipas and began acquiring property.
Doheny found heavy oil in El Ebano in 1901, which he exported to the United States for use in paving. He formed the Mexican Petroleum Company and funded it with $6 million of his own money. In 1905 he bought properties near Tuxpan, Veracruz, and formed the Huasteca Petroleum company to hold them. In 1910 his wells in the Juan Casiano Basin in the Faja de Oro field started to produce good quality oil. The gusher at Casiano number 7 spewed out 60,000 barrels a day, and by 1918 had delivered over 85 million barrels of oil. In 1911 Doheny signed a contract to supply Standard Oil. Doheny's Mexican Petroleum Company made a major strike in February 1916 with the Cerro Azul No. 4 well in Cerro Azul, Veracruz, Mexico. When the well struck it shot a stream of oil 598 feet (182 m) into the air. It became world's largest, pumping 260,000 barrels per day. Over the next fourteen years the well produced over 57 million barrels. The Mexican Petroleum Company eventually acquired ownership or leasehold rights to 1,500,000 acres (610,000 ha) of land.
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