So, the barrels were different, and this created a whole range of inconveniences, both purely marketing and administrative. Nevertheless, the road to standardization turned out to be long and difficult. The first step towards overcoming the distrust of oil buyers was taken at the end of August 1866, when on the 31st, the following statement was published in the newspaper The Weekly Register, published in Oil City:

"Whereas all oil producers of the Oil Creek district recognize that the existing system of selling oil by barrels, regardless of size, is detrimental to both buyer and seller, since buyers with barrels of the usual size cannot compete with those who have larger barrels, we mutually agree and undertake that from this day we will not sell produced oil by barrels or measured in any other container, but will sell only by gallons. For every 40 gallons, an allowance of two gallons will be added in favor of the buyer."