Then in 1938 Standard Oil of New Jersey obtained a contract to supply Britain with 100 octane Aviation Gasoline. However, because of the
isolationism that was prevalent in the United States, the contract states that the Aviation gasoline had to be produced outside the United States. Thus the Lago refinery becomes an important asset by providing the place outside the United States where the Aviation gasoline would be produced. The size of the Lago refinery expanded to produce Aviation gasoline for the British Government long before the United States entered
World War II.
Wartime
With the United States entry into World War II in 1942 the demand for Aviation gasoline further increased and considerable expansion was done at the Lago Refinery soon after the United States entered the war. With this expansion, Lago became one of the largest refineries in the world, only bested by
Royal Dutch Shell refinery on Dutch-owned
Curaçao, and a major producer of petroleum products for the Allied war efforts.
The importance of the Lago refinery was well known to the German High Command and on February 16, 1942 the Lago refinery was attacked by the German Submarine
U-156. The submarine's deck gun exploded due to mistakes by the German deck gunner, and the refinery was not damaged. However, three of the
lake tankers that carried the crude oil from Lake Maracaibo were torpedoed.
Postwar
When demand for gasoline was high after World War II the Lago Refinery was running at full capacity and employed over 10,000 personnel.