Profitable use for the Mexican crude oil was found in 1918 when, then, wartime food administrator Herbert Hoover sent a delegation to call one evening on Mr. Sinclair. The war had cut off Cuba's supply of coal; none was available to railroads or sugar refineries. The entire sugar crop appeared lost. In one of his memorable snap decisions, Sinclair, in one sentence, pledged to save the crop, then walked out on the astounded delegation, leaving details to his assistant, A. E. Watts. Within a month, technicians were converting the Cuban railroads and sugar centrals to oil fuel and building tank farms. Soon the Tamesi and Panuco steamed in with raw, unrefined heavy Mexican crude to be burned directly without processing of any kind. Six million barrels of oil were delivered in the first year.

Chiefly due to the Mexican production, Sinclair Gulf in 1918, its only full year as a separate corporation, produced 5,833,000 barrels of crude oil and earned a net profit of $2,245,000.

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