Oil Capital of the World

[1][2] Houston, Texas, the current center of the oil industry, more frequently uses the sobriquet “The Energy Capital of the World.”[3] In mid-19th century, when Pennsylvania was the first center of petroleum production, Pittsburgh[4] and Titusville[5] were considered oil capitals.

In the later 19th century, before oil was discovered in Texas, Oklahoma, or the Middle East, Cleveland, Ohio had a claim to the title,[6] with 86[7] or 88[8] refineries operating in the city in 1884.

Many prominent oilmen lived in Tulsa at some point, including Josh Cosden,[9] William Skelly,[10] Harry Ford Sinclair,[11] Waite Phillips,[12] Thomas Gilcrease,[13] George Kaiser,[14] and J. Paul Getty.

The IPE grew and reached its peak attendance in 1966, when the Golden Driller, a large statue symbolic of Tulsa's historical importance in the oil industry, was erected in front of the new IPE Building, then said to be the world's largest building under one roof.

In more recent times, Tulsa's continued use of "oil capital of the world" is often characterized as nostalgic or historical.