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
History of the oil shale industry in the United States companies, among them Chevron and Texaco. The company based its plans on its proprietary Paraho process retorting technology, which achieved oil recoveries of greater than 90 percent. Besides the Anvil Points lease, Paraho leased some oil shale acreage in Utah, but did no work on the Utah properties. The company produced more than 100,000 barrels of shale oil at Anvil Points in the late 1970s. Sunoco and Phillips Petroleum jointly submitted the US$76 million winning bid on the 5,120-acre Federal Tract U-a in Utah, and formed the White River Shale Oil Corporation to run the project. SOHIO bought into the