Answer:
Drake met stockholders of the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, which claimed a lease on land near Titusville, Pennsylvania, where oil had been gathered from ground-level seepages for medicinal uses. The company hoped to make money selling the oil for lighting, and to this end the stockholders sent Drake to Titusville to assess the viability of the enterprise. Letters of introduction to businessmen in the area referred to Drake as “Colonel,” and for the rest of his life he was known as Colonel Drake. After Drake returned to New Haven with a favourable report, the New Haven stockholders formed a new company, the Seneca Oil Company, sold some stock to Drake, and sent him back to develop the site.
Step-by-step explanation: