1970 American Petroleum Institute Wall Chart of the Formation and Discovery of Oil

This is a c. 1970 wall chart describing the formation and discovery of oil published by the American Petroleum Institute for classroom use. It accompanies several educational booklets, including 'Facts About Oil', a 'Teacher's Guide', 'Science' and more. The whole provides remarkable insight into how the petroleum industry marketed itself to American youth.

A Closer Look

The sheet's top half illustrates the process by which oil forms over hundreds of millions of years. These include depictions of tiny fossils and renderings of what the landscape may have looked like during the Ordovician, Cretaceous, and Tertiary periods. North America appears on a globe in all four eras (including the current one - the Quaternary Period) and features the gigantic inland seas of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. The bottom half of the sheet focuses on the oil industry, recording the process from discovery to drilling. Illustrations of seismograph surveying, both on land and offshore, appear along the bottom edge. The extreme right is occupied by a scale drawing of an oil well one mile deep.

The American Petroleum Institute

Founded on March 20, 1919, the American Petroleum Institute states that its 'mission is to promote safety across the industry globally and to influence public policy in support of a strong, viable U.S. oil and gas industry'. The American Petroleum Institute has 'nearly 600 members', conducts research and advocacy on their behalf, and 'maintains more than 800 standards and recommended practices'.

Publication History and Census

This chart was published by the American Petroleum Institute c. 1970. We note one example cataloged in OCLC, located at Southern Illinois University. We have also located one example of the chart in private hands. This is the only instance we have found on the private market or in institutional collections where the chart is accompanied by booklets published by the American Petroleum Institute.