Arkansas oilfield discoveries as early as the 1920s created boom towns and launched the state’s petroleum industry. In the 1950s, Arkansas Oil Ventures would try but fail to be part of a resurgence in drilling.
Arkansas’ first commercial oil well was drilled in 1921 at El Dorado in Union County, 15 miles north of the Louisiana border. The 68-square-mile field led U.S. oil output by 1925 with production reaching 70 million barrels of oil.
When another well in 1922 revealed the Smackover field, Arkansas oil fever grew, attracting more exploration companies and speculators (see First Arkansas Oil Wells). According the state geologist, the giant oilfield at Smackover produced more 606 million barrels of oil by 2016.
Although it issued 1,999,000 shares of stock in 1952, Arkansas Oil Ventures found no success in the oil patch.
In addition to oil production, a 50-mile-wide geologic formation across central Arkansas, the Fayetteville Shale, promised large quantities of natural gas — but drilling and production technologies of the day could not economically produce the gas.
When Arkansas oil production declined from about 58 million barrels of oil in 1926 to 12 million barrels in 1932, a dozen new fields were discovered, most between 1936 and 1947.
A 1941 oil well drilled in Columbia County, Arkansas. Four counties produce about 85 percent of the state’s oil, according to the state geologist. Photo courtesy of Arkansas Natural Resources Museum, Smackover.
By 2016, more than 1.8 billion barrels of oil had been produced in Arkansas with four counties — Union, Lafayette, Columbia, and Ouachita counties — producing 85 percent of the oil, according to the Office of the State Geologist. Cumulative production of unconventional gas (methane gas in coal seams) from the Fayetteville Shale was estimated at 7.34 trillion cubic feet.
Arkansas Oil Ventures
“From the late 1930s into the late 1960s, the oil industry enjoyed a resurgence in south Arkansas, though paling in comparison to the boom years of the early 1920s,” noted historian Kenneth Bridges of the South Arkansas Community College.
Among those attempting to take part in the state’s later exploration and production growth was Arkansas Oil Ventures.
Although few financial records can be found today, the new oil company incorporated in Delaware in 1952 and issued almost two million shares of stock. It drilled the Doggett No. 1 well in Jackson County, Arkansas. The well was a dry hole.
Arkansas Oil Ventures was out of the oil business by 1961 – but recapitalized as Trojan Industries in 1969.
The recapitalization included exchanging each share of Arkansas Oil Ventures common stock (one cent par value) for one share of Trojan Industries common stock (one-half cent par value).
Leaving the petroleum business far behind, Trojan Industries changed its name to Leisure Trends Inc. in May of 1970. The company’s charter was cancelled March 1, 1978.
The Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources near Smackover has preserved the social, economic, and environmental history of the state’s petroleum industry.
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The stories of exploration and production companies trying to join petroleum booms (and avoid busts) can be found in updated research at Is my Old Oil Stock worth Anything?
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The American Oil & Gas Historical Society (AOGHS) preserves U.S. petroleum history. Join today as an annual AOGHS supporting member. Help maintain this energy education website and expand historical research. For more information, contact bawells@aoghs.org. Copyright © 2024 Bruce A. Wells. All rights reserved.
Citation Information – Article Title: “Arkansas Oil Ventures.” Authors: B.A. Wells and K.L. Wells. Website Name: American Oil & Gas Historical Society. URL: https://aoghs.org/old-oil-stocks/arkansas-oil-ventures. Last Updated: June 28, 2024. Original Published Date: April 20, 2015.
