Multinational oil company, PetroMech's roots can be traced back to the American oil boom of the 1900's. The three companies that would form PetroMech's core were all founded then. Shaw Petroleum and the Semaphore Oil and Refining Company both were based in Houston Texas. Rexford Oil had its offices in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Shaw and Semaphore merged in 1923, and Rexford was bought out the following year to give the growing corporation access to its East Coast distribution network. Its name was changed to reflect its wider market and over the next five decades American Petroleum grew into one of the five largest crude oil producers in the world, with drilling operations in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Following the collapse of the petroleum market in the ear