The success of the early oil men of the United States not only in grappling with the problem of crude production, but with those of conservation, transportation, refining and the development of new uses for the various elements of the treated crude, set an example to all the world. From 1870 onward, though Pennsylvania continued to lead, American methods were copied in many other countries. The foundations of the trade which have made petroleum the most international of all commercial undertakings were at that time laid; and this brings us to a survey of the industry as a world interest. CHAPTER V PETROLEUM AS A WORLD INDUSTRY The standardization of the petroleum industry which began in America during the later sixties naturally excited emulation. Just previous to the Pennsylvania discoveries of 1859 something like a systematic industry had been established in connection with the Roumanian deposits, sixty years later destined to be a military objective of vital importance in the World War. But the actual sinking of oil wells by the boring process was a later development in Europe. As was natural, the first foreign country to profit by Drake’s example was our neighbour Canada, which has long been an oil producing country, and to a still greater extent, thanks to friendly American initiative, an oil-refining country. Before speaking of the extent of the American branch of the industry in the twentieth century it is worth while briefly to scan the oil fields of other lands.