The federal government sold the Teapot Dome oil field Friday, the historic Wyoming site involved in one of America’s largest political scandals.
Stranded Oil Resources Corp. bought the oil field from the Energy Department in a competitive bid. The Treasury will receive $45 million from the sale of 9,000 acres of the 9,500-acre site, which was set aside as a naval oil reserve in 1915 and transferred to the Energy Department in 1977.
The 1920s scandal was one of the most followed of the 20th century. Albert Fall, Interior secretary under President Warren G. Harding, gave two friends leases to Teapot Dome in exchange for about $400,000, leading to his eventual conviction and one-year imprisonment.
The Supreme Court invalidated the leases in 1927, and Teapot Dome remained largely inactive until being transferred to the Energy Department.
The department used the site to test new oil production processes and technologies. In nearly 40 years of Energy Department management, the oil field produced 22 million barrels of oil, pumping $569 million into the Treasury’s coffers.
