Of Oil, Fertilisers and Haber process!

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

Director: Ron Howard

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_heart_of_the_sea

I had to remind myself of these two points while watching this film. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, when people discussed oil exploration, they often referred to whale hunting. Petroleum had not yet been discovered as an energy source, and the Industrial Revolution had not yet begun. 

Whale oil was used in the Western world for street lighting, to illuminate homes, street lamps, and offices, for industrial lubrication, and for manufacturing soap as well as margarine. It was also valuable in the production of explosives. With the discovery of kerosene as a cheaper alternative, whale oil fell out of fashion. 

Another thing we often take for granted is agricultural fertilisers. We assume they have always been synthetically produced. Wrong. In the 19th century, the best fertilisers in the world came from the 'Guano Islands', a land made of bats and birds' droppings. As the world recognised its importance in farming and the need to feed the growing population, guano was also known as White gold. The same title was also given to cotton later, as it also drove the US and British economies. 

Essex
https://essex.nha.org/the-whaleship-essex/

Great imperial powers, including the US, Britain, France, and Spain, competed to control the numerous Guano islands off South America. Chincha Island, near the coast of Peru, became a key location that served as the centre of the alliance among Spain, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador. Spain lost this war, marking the start of its decline as a superpower. Peru became impoverished when the guano reserves were depleted and the accumulated debt became unsustainable. The global guano trade inspired Haber and Bosch to develop their Nobel Prize-winning process for producing ammonia on an industrial scale. We also know how that turned out for the production of TNT.

This film depicts the true story of the ill-fated whaling ship Essex, which sank in the Pacific Ocean in 1820, after being struck by a giant sperm whale. Its crew of twenty escaped in three whale boats, but only seven of them ultimately survived, enduring a gruelling ordeal of hardship, dehydration, hunger, and resorting to cannibalism. One of the surviving boatmen, the youngest at fourteen when he embarked on the voyage, lived to tell his story to Herman Melville, who later wrote 'Moby Dick' in 1851.

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A tinderbox waiting to be ignited, the world over!

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Based on David Grann's book (2017)
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

The narration is always the same. Again and again, history has repeatedly shown the same narration. The local population would live in harmony, in sync with their environment. The rambunctious mavericks from outside, with both eyes fixed on the wealth, would trickle in, peddle their snake oil elixirs and promise the moons and the stars. They would bulldoze their thinking into the local populace. The host would be cordial enough to accommodate the newcomers' wisdom, too. Once the shields are lowered, when the host treats the visitors as equals and gives them due recognition, they would zap. 

The bottom line is all about wealth, money and control. 

The Native Indians were nicely tugged into the New World, as 'discovered' by Europeans. The areas around Missouri and Kansas were occupied by a group that later became known as the Osage (Middle River) people. As the 13 original states of the USA expanded westwards, winning over the West, the Osage people were relocated to present-day Oklahoma. Even though their new land was hilly and barren, devoid of hunting grounds, they took it as they told themselves that at least they got the White men off their backs. 

Life works in mysterious tangents. Behind every prosperous find, there lies a catch. The discovery of black gold, aka petroleum, aka devil's excrement* is no different. 

Petroleum wells started welling up in their backyards, and their family coffers started bulging. The Osage proudly displayed their newfound wealth, buying the latest edition of the early 1920s post-WW1 prosperity automobiles, shopping the latest designs of luxurious Parisian outfits and basically living the life. Many were living the white men's lives, embracing the high life and the white men's religion. The Osage Elders realised the tide change would not last forever and decided that the deed of the Osage land would be collectively held as communal head rights. Leasing of land for oil earned them much royalty. It could not be sold to outsiders. 

Meanwhile, the US government decreed (Burke Act, 1906) that the Osage were not smart enough to manage their money. An act was passed to make them appoint a white guardian to manage their finances. This led to much exploitation. It became a legitimate means to cheat the Osage blind. The Osage had to obtain approval for their expenditure and were often over-billed through the roof by their guardians. Soon, there was a trend for white men to marry wealthy Osage women to manage their affairs. Pretty soon, a spade of deaths emerged amongst the Osage Indians in Oklahoma.

David Grann did his own research to write about the 20 Osage people murdered probably because of their ties to oil. The newly formed precursor to the FBI, the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), was assigned to investigate. The local rancher, politician and philanthropist was charged with murder. This book shows the ugly side of the self-proclaimed defender of the Truth, one who introduced culture to the Natives and a Christian to stoop so low as to wilfully bully, cheat and kill the people who invited them to their homes. The local white leader, who was seen as a do-gooder and a philanthropist with his nephew, had masterminded the killing of many Osage people. The nephew had even married an Osage lady but had conspired in her death and, probably, her sisters and mother, too. 

This episode is just an example of the numerous atrocities that white Americans have inflicted upon their brethren. In 1897, 300-400 unarmed immigrant miners at the Lattimer Mines, who marched peacefully for better wages and better living conditions, were gunned down by the Deputies. The Deputies would not acted like that if the miners were English-speaking Anglo-Saxons. 

Around the time of the Osage murders, in another part of Oklahoma, which was dubbed as one of the wealthiest black communities in the USA, colloquially known as 'Black Wall Street', the worst racial massacre in US history took place. A 19-year-old black man was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old white woman. Rumours spread that whites were going to lynch the accused. The blacks gathered around the jail to protect the accused. In that tense situation, a gunshot went off, and mayhem ensued.

There had been many Native American-related movies from Hollywood before. 'The Last Mohican' and 'Dances of Wolves' are some shining examples. Unlike the earlier films that stand guilty of having been 'whitewashed' to suit the narrative of the day, this movie tells the story from the Osage's point of view. The 3.5-hour-long film is worth the indulgence. 

*Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, a Venezuelan diplomat and one of the two founders of OPEC was the first to use this phrase in 1975: "I call petroleum the devil's excrement. It brings trouble. Look at this locura (madness in Spanish), waste, corruption, consumption, and our public services falling apart. And debt, debt we shall have for years. We are all drowning in devil's excrement!"

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The history of Man is the story of Oil.

The Prize(1992) 

8 part documentary based on Daniel Bergen’s bestseller “The PRIZE: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power”

"The kingdom of Heaven is based on righteousness,
The kingdom of the world is based on oil.”

This is a mind-blowing 8-hour long documentary detailing from beginning the time when petroleum was drilled on a scale in America in the mid 19th century. Just the gold rush, oil was drilled haphazardly without much planning. With more and more new towns being opened as an oil town, so did shady characters.

Interestingly, oil was used for lighting lamps with kerosene. John D. Rockefeller emerged as a ruthless businessman who tried to undercut his competitors by controlling all aspects of oil production, the barrelling, transportation, distribution, by devious methods.

An investigative journalist Ida Tarbell exposed his ways. The courts punished him for anti-trust violations, but he found solace in philanthropy and church matters.

Rockefeller, through his subsidiaries, continued to prosper, nevertheless.

Shell Oil was a British company that had their fields in Russia. Dutch Oil was maltreating the natives in Indonesia for their oil. Shell and Dutch Oil combine forces to challenge Standard Oil, owned by Rockefeller family. The owner of Shell Oil, a British Jew, showed more interest in politics and sold his share to Royal Dutch company.

Oil firmly put in place in the civilisation of mankind when automobiles rolled in. World War 1 was won by the allies with the help of petroleum power.

After the war, cars became an important part of life. Oil shortage was seen for the first time. The need was there to explore newer frontiers. Iraq was earmarked as a potential oil producer.

Oil again was the deciding factor in World War 2.

After WW2, Americans formed a close liaison with the Arabs to drill, process and even fought their wars. Many small companies mushroomed to oppose the hegemony of big oil companies but lost. The world we are living only got more chaotic as many developed nations wrestle for domination of oil control. The Oil producing countries, OPEC, formed a cartel formed a cartel in the 70s to raise the price turning the world into a spin. Leaders were changed for oil.

In the 80s onwards, people have realised the damaging effect on the environment that many have environmental consciousness.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/riflerangeboy/!

He stirred the hornet's nest!

The Mattei Affair (Italian, Il Caso Mattei; 1972)


Heard about this guy through Hussain Najadi's autobiography. Enrico Mattei, a self made entrepreneur from a humble beginning. He started working in tannery industry at the age of 15 only to climb the social ladder to be a threat to the Anglo-American oil cartel.

His path crossed with Najadi when both were trying to get Kuwait's oil industry going. Unlike Najadi who missed an ill-fated flight to cheat death in 1963, Mattei succumbed to one.
This offering is an Italian documentary trying to outline the events leading to his untimely death. Foul play has always been suggested. Even the journalist who tried to investigate his death mysteriously disappeared and was never found.

Enrico Mattei

Growing up in WW2 Italy, he became Mussolini's Fascist party inactive member. He later became a Christian Democrat and a nationalist. He tried to sell the idea of mining methane gas in Northern Italy. Even though initially ridiculed as a Fascist's propaganda, he managed to drill natural gas and a little petrol there, stimulating local industry. Through companies ENI and AGIP, he tried to drill petrol in countries like Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Iran and China.

He incurred the wrath of the kingpin of the oil industries at time who dictated how oil should be drilled and how much should be paid to the producing nations. He offered higher remuneration and even financed pre-Independent Algeria.

Mattei named the oil cartel as the 'Seven Sisters' - 7 Anglo American companies including Standard Oil, Shell, Texaco, Gulf Oil etc.
Even though the cause of his plane crash remain a mystery, the consensus is that a bomb could have been planted in the tail of plane either by the CIA, French secret police or the Sicilian mafia.

A little cat arrives where a few big dogs are eating in a pot. The dogs attack him and toss him away. We Italians are like that little cat: in that pot there is oil for everybody, but someone does not want to let us get close to it.

http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy