Murdock Oil & Gas Company
The Sooner State’s petroleum industry began a decade before statehood when the first Oklahoma oil well was completed at Bartlesville in 1897.
On April 16, 1917 – ten days after the United States entered World War I – the Murdock Oil & Gas Company was registered to do business by J.P. Wolverton, T.H. Williams, and B.W. Fesler, all of Chickasha, Oklahoma. They hoped to find oil with money from people willing to take the risk.
Their newly formed petroleum exploration venture, with capitalization of just $25,000, depended upon investors to fund wildcat drilling (away from proven production). (more…)
