Edward L. Doheny prices were high. The Mexican Petroleum Company was the largest in Mexico, and Mexico was the largest oil producer in the world. In 1922 Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, leased the oil field at Elk Hills, California, to the Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company. Around the same time, the Teapot Dome Field in Wyoming was leased to Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation. Both oilfields were part of the US Navy's petroleum reserves. Neither lease was subject to competitive bidding. In 1924 rumors about corruption in the deals escalated into the Teapot Dome scandal. Doheny's reputation was somewhat
Oil shale in Estonia Eesti Põlevkivitööstus (), was the predecessor of Viru Keemia Grupp, one of the current shale oil producers in Estonia. It took over the existing Pavandu open-pit mine, and opened new mines at Vanamõisa (1919), Kukruse (1920), and Käva (1924). Also, several private investors, including investors from abroad, initiated oil shale industries in Estonia by opening mines at Kiviõli (1922), Küttejõu (1925), Ubja (1926), Viivikonna (1936), and Kohtla (1937). Pavandu mine was closed in 1927 and Vanamõisa mine was closed in 1931. While in 1918 only 16 tonnes and in 1919 only 9,631 tonnes of oil shale were mined, in 1937