This marks Pierce Brosnan's return to series television after his breakthrough role on Remington Steele (1982), 35 years ago.
Standard Oil was founded by John D. Rockefeller. It which was eventually broken up due to anti-trust concerns, and what remained became Exxon (Esso outside the US).
Spindletop refers to a rich oil discovery found in East Texas. It was declared a historical landmark and Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum in Beaumont, Texas was established in the area.
The original mandate of the Texas Railroad Commission was to regulate the railroads. Eventually, the role of the commission evolved to include pipelines, because it served as a "common carrier" for oil transport, and then it would have oversight of the oil, gas, and mineral producers themselves. The organization serves a model for the founding of OPEC (The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) which controls the global supply and price of oil.
The Landlord's game, the board game which Pete's children were playing with, was the predecessor to Monopoly. The rationale of the game was to serve as a critique to capitalism: Exorbitant rents or monies were paid to the owners of said land, not because of the fruits of their labor but due to the fact that the land was in their possession. The developers of said game, hoped that the children who played the game would carry this feeling of unfairness into adulthood, and would act to change the system accordingly.