In 1938, Fisher offered to pay The Ohio Oil Company the publicly announced field prices for crude, an unimaginable offer during the Depression. Donnell was shocked, but all that Fisher wanted in return was a guarantee that Donnell would ship Aurora Oil when supplies were short. Their agreement was never sealed in writing, but rather, with a handshake. The Ohio Oil Company gained its largest single crude oil customer when it desperately needed a new outlet. During World War II when oil was scarce, Donnell kept his word to Fisher.