The pipeline in 1917 delivered seven million barrels of crude oil from the fields, a figure that increased to 12,500,000 barrels by 1920. The seven Sinclair refineries in 1918 poured forth a lush stream of 315,000 gallons of gasoline every 24 hours, the principal product made at the time. These had to be sold, and an organization had to be built from scratch, together with all the necessary facilities such as real estate, offices, plants and rolling stock. The two new refineries, utilizing modern techniques, added many products to the line: waxes, light and heavy fuel oils, exotic distillates, lubricants, paints. Markets had to be found for all of them.

In its first fourteen months Sinclair Oil & Refining Corporation earned $9.2 million and increased its assets by 40 percent to $70 million. By the end of 1918, the stated value of the corporation exceeded $110 million.

Even this was not enough for ambitious Harry F. Sinclair. He had already begun an expansion along the Gulf Coast which, in another year, would double the size of the organization, change its name and launch it as an international enterprise.

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