Talk:Oil boom

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First oil boom in human history

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the statement

The first oil boom in human history took place in 1859 in Oil Creek valley, Pennsylvania, United States.

I realize this is consistent with the particular source cited but I have trouble believing that scholars on the whole would agree with this statement (i.e. a source is only authoritative if there is good-faith reason to believe the author's opinion reflects widely accepted research). Certainly this is not the first place where major oil discoveries were made nor is it the first place where oil had a major financial impact. It may be true that this is the first place where a local community was transformed by oil discoveries (the oil boom in Azerbaijan, for example, did not seem to benefit the local communities all that much from what I understand).

My personal opinion is that, unless there is actually evidence that other scholars agree with this statement, it should be toned done and more clearly explained (or else removed). I am, however, comfortable saying that this was the first oil boom in North America. That is certainly a fair statement.

--Mcorazao (talk) 23:05, 19 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My impression from the cited source was, as you say, that it was the first large-scale (financial) transformation of a local community. I suppose we both agree that a major discovery isn't what is meant by the boom part of the word, and in my opinion this is not a source of confusion. Rather, the boom is about the financial impact, and that in the current wording might cause confusion if the Creek turns out not to be the first boom. According to the Azerbaijan articles, the boom in Oil Creek valley seems to predate any large-scale development in Baku:

Large-scale oil development started in 1872 (Baku#Oil boom)

In 1871 Mirzoyev ... built the first wooden oil derrick (Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan#First oil boom)

Honestly, I don't know, I'm still at Wikipedia research level on the subject and put more faith in your knowledge. The claim is now removed, at least temporarily in its current form, and is to be found in the diff if anyone is able to make any sense out of it. By the way, great work on the Texas Oil Boom article! jonkerz ♠ 00:22, 20 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]