Naval Petroleum Reserve #3, Teapot Dome, Wyoming

The Teapot Dome reserve, part of the once immensely productive Salt Creek Oil Field region of Wyoming, was one of a few major oilfields in the country that were set aside by the federal government, to be used only in the event of a national crisis or shortage. Called naval reserves, as they were established initially as fuel supplies for naval ships. This reserve site was made famous by the Teapot Dome scandal in 1922, when commercial pumping was allowed from the oil field by then Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, who had been bribed by the oil companies that did so. Years later the field was finally opened up to commercial use, and is now actively being pumped and undergoing environmental restoration. Owned by the Department of Energy, and operated by Flour Daniel Inc., the field produced over 22 million barrels of oil, generating more than $550 million for the government, until it was finally sold in 2015 to the Stranded Oil Company of New York for $45 million. A commercial oil field operations training area is on the site as well.