← Legal Glossary
Petroleum Administration for War (PAW)
Definition
A federal wartime agency that extensively regulated and supervised oil production, refining, and distribution during World War II to maximize petroleum output for the war effort. It set production targets, regulated drilling practices, and coordinated the supply chain from crude production to refined products.
Examples
- •PAW regulated drill spacing and production levels for oil companies, and its official history stated that without crude, 'all of those towering wartime refineries would lay idle'