| abstract | - The Resource Wars wouldn't have had to happen, or at least the world might have lasted longer without them if people had discovered the secrets of hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing, a process whereby jets of chemicals and liquid are injected into the earth under high pressure, cracks tight rock formations and ultimately siphons oil and natural gas out from the rocks. Sometime around 2245, researchers from Mesa re-discovered the theory of hydraulic fracturing, but their test wells around Midessa all came up dry; it wasn't until Reg Sykes, a Brahmin Baron took a big risk with his caps that the process became commercialized. Skyes purchased rights to the technology and had most of the research either burned or brought to his side. Leading researchers either served him or disappeared, and Sykes took on the mantle of "The Oilman." The first successful well, Hope, was sunk in 2255 and the Oilman began ramping up production and distribution in 2260. Greasers and Speed Disciples, hungry for fuel in Penwell, were his primary purchasers. After the Oilman's daughter disappeared in 2265, possibly as a result of a kidnapping plot, the old man went into seclusion and he acted mainly through his partner-- Aloysius Margrave. When the Oilman makes public appearances, he speaks through a voice modulator to make his voice carry and he always wears a thick suit of metal armor. The Oilman presides over the Driller's Council and rations out the oil sales. Wildcatters are dealt with summarily. The monopoly must be preserved, according to the Oilman, and the resource must be distributed judiciously, lest the wells run dry. Most Drillers don't believe that the wells will run dry since in 20 years no well has yet tapped out, but they do believe that the monopoly they have has driven up prices--which increases the efficiency of profits. Essentially, less oil is sold and no one is likely to become as super-rich as the Oilman, but all the drillers are already very, very rich. It remains to be seen if any of them grow more ambitious.
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