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 reserves in Mexico the formation could yield about 425 million barrels. Oil reserves in Mexico As of 2007, the proven oil reserves in Mexico were . The US Energy Information Administration estimated Mexican proved reserves to be as of 2013. Mexico was the seventh-largest oil producer in the world as of 2006, producing of petroleum products, of which was crude oil. Mexican oil production has started to decline rapidly. The U.S. Energy Information Administration had estimated that Mexican production of petroleum products would decline to in 2007 and in 2008. Mexican crude oil production fell in 2007, and was below by the start