Astral Oil Works was founded in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York by Charles Pratt. Pratt was a pioneer of the petroleum industry who formed Charles Pratt and Company with Henry H. Rogers. The Pratt interests became part of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil organization in 1874.

Specializing in illuminating oil, which had earlier been derived from whale oil, the products of the Astral Oil Works kerosene refinery became famous world-wide in the late 19th century. They gave rise to the slogan, "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil."

Pratt founded and endowed the Pratt Institute with profits of the Astral Oil Works.