Teapot Dome scandal Teapot Dome was regarded as the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics". It damaged the reputation of the Harding administration, which was already severely diminished by its controversial handling of the Great Railroad Strike of 1922 and Harding's veto of the Bonus Bill in 1922. In the early 20th century, the U.S. Navy largely converted from coal to fuel oil. To ensure that the Navy would always have enough fuel available, several oil-producing areas were designated as naval oil reserves by President Taft. In 1921, President Harding issued an executive order that transferred control of
Oil reserves in the United States Prudhoe Bay field was found in Alaska. United States crude oil production declined since reaching a smaller secondary production peak in 1988 (caused by Alaskan production), but increased again from 2009 to 2015. Total production of crude oil from 1970 through 2006 was , or roughly five and a half times the decline in proved reserves. Since the oil price peaked about US$147.50 in summer 2008 many projects have been brought online, and domestic production increased from 2009 to 2015. It takes a few years to develop an oil field. In 2012 the oil production of the USA increased by