"[3] Stoop acquired one of the first oil concessions in Indonesia in 1886 and with money from friends and family in 1887—as Gerretson puts it, 50,000 Dutch guilders "from head-shaking relatives"—he founded the Dordtsche Petroleum Maatschappij.

However, in order to stay competitive the company would have needed to expand its sales territory beyond Java and this would have required an enormous investment in ships and unloading supplies.

By 1910, the Dordtsche was the last independent producer on Java and rumors spread that Royal Dutch Shell's main rival, Standard Oil, would buy it.

[9] While prospecting for oil in Bavaria, Germany in the early 1900s, Stoop discovered instead thermal water containing high levels of sulfur and iodine.

[10][incomplete short citation] German specialists thought this water would have health promoting properties and this led to creation of a spa at Bad Wiessee that exists to this day.