The rise and fall of the Texas Railroad Commission

This is the history of the Texas Railroad Commission up to 1973, the year OPEC became dominant. It covers the TRRC's regulation of the Texas oil business from 1931 to 1973. The Thompson/Culberson Years covers 1932--1961. The Murray Years covers the move toward more efficient production from 1961--1963. The Langdon Years covers further improvements from 1963--1967. The King of Crude covers actions by the TRRC in 1967 to foil the Arab oil embargo. The Declining Years covers how the TRRC rapidly lost its old position of power from 1968--1973. 1973 and the Energy Crisis, describes how vulnerable the U.S. became to foreign oil that year and how the TRRC could not bail out the nation as it had in 1967. The Conclusion sums up and advocates that the U.S. finally create a national oil and gas commission, modeled after the old TRRC.