Sumatra’s East Coast is one of the oldest petroleum production areas in the world. The oil extracted from the fields in Sumatra was first used to light lamps. By 1907, the Dutch East Indies was the major supplier of lamp oil across Asia. The petroleum produced in Sumatra was exported via Singapore to China, India, and Japan. These two images show how tin containers were manufactured for packing petroleum. Tin was also a major mineral product in the Dutch East Indies. Tin, like oil and rubber, was highly profitable.
