In 1915 the _Royal Dutch_ already controlled one-ninth of the American output. _One-third of its total production comes to-day from the United States._ It has obtained for its pipe-lines the right of passage to St. Louis and the river, and its surveys of Virginia and Louisiana are complete. It owns the great refineries of Martinez, near San Francisco, and of St. Louis and New Orleans. Seventy-five per cent. of the Californian output, which exceeds ten million tons, now escapes the control of the _Standard Oil_. But more than this, the _Royal Dutch_ is gaining possession of the deposits of Mexico and Venezuela. The oil-bearing territories of Tampico and Panuco, the railway, and the local oil companies belong to Mr. Deterding. The importance of this region is well known. Its geographical position, a few miles from the sea, and its nearness to the Panama Canal double its value. Three hundred and fifty kilometres by sea, one hundred and seventy-five by pipe-line across the isthmus of Tehuantepec, and the oil can be delivered at a centre which commands the whole South American market. Not content with conquering the _Standard Oil_ on its own ground, Deterding also caused it to lose its "Algeria." Master of the _Mexican Eagle_, which he bought from its founder, Lord Cowdray, in 1918 for more than a thousand million francs, he controls to-day the bulk of Mexican production. By this master-stroke he increased by 50 per cent. the quantity of oil that the _Royal Dutch_ can offer to the world. The Americans felt the loss very keenly, for hitherto all the output of the _Mexican Eagle_ had gone to the _Standard Oil_. The _Mexican Eagle_ had a large number of tank steamers, the acquisition of which brought up the fleet of the _Royal Dutch-Shell_ to more than a million tons. Moreover, the directors of the _Royal Dutch_ do not hesitate to assert that the oil-bearing district of Venezuela, of which, since their agreements with the _General Asphalt Company_, they control more than 15,000 square miles, is as rich in oil as the district of Tampico. That is why they have put up enormous buildings, both warehouses and refineries, at Curaçao. The _Shell_, which has operated for four or five years in Venezuela, has just overcome the difficulties of approaching the coast by constructing a flotilla of tankers of very small draught, thus permitting the transport of oil from Maracaibo to Curaçao. The Panama Canal itself is seriously menaced. The United States have spent more than 300 million dollars in constructing the canal, and now American vessels are going to be dependent upon the _Royal Dutch_ for oil. Mr. Deterding has a depot at one end of the canal and another at the entrance to the gulf. He dominates American commerce.