Among its petroleum history records, Florida’s first — but not last — unsuccessful attempt to find commercially viable oil reserves began in 1901, not far from the Gulf Coast panhandle town of Pensacola. Two exploratory wells, the first drilled to a depth of 1,620 feet and the second reaching 100 feet deeper, were abandoned. (more…)
Swiss inventor Henry H. Mohaupt used his experience from creating a World War II anti-tank weapon to develop a new technology for improving production of oil and natural gas wells. To penetrate well casing, he adapted conically hollowed-out explosive charges to focus each detonation’s energy.
Seen from the highway, the spheres look like massive eggs or fanciful Disney architectural projects. A 19th-century iron bridge manufacturer from Chicago conceived the idea for these globes — at first made by riveting together wrought iron plates. Modern highly pressured vessels are vital for storing and transporting liquified natural gas (LNG).
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) officially named “Hortonspheres” — also called Horton spheres — after Horace Ebenezer Horton (1843-1912), the company founder and designer of water towers and rounded storage vessels. His son George would patent designs that stand among the great innovations to come to the oil patch. (more…)
The largest U.S. private oil lease ever negotiated was signed in Texas during the Great Depression. The 825,000-acre King Ranch oil deal with Humble Oil and Refining, signed on September 26, 1933, would help the company become ExxonMobil, which has extended the agreement ever since.
At its peak, covering one million acres, the King Ranch has remained bigger than the state of Rhode Island (776,960 acres). Despite unsuccessful wells drilled on the South Texas ranch for more than a decade, a Humble Oil geologist was convinced an oilfield could be found. (more…)
“It was desolate country: sand, mesquite, bear grass, and jackrabbits. Hobbs was a store, a small school, a windmill, and a couple of trees.” — A New Mexico roughneck.
Although the Hobbs discovery came six years after the first oil production (seven years after the first natural gas well), petroleum geologists soon called it the most important single oil find in New Mexico history.
Spudded in late 1927, the Midwest State No. 1 well saw its first signs of oil on June 13, 1928, and the wildcat well was completed November 18 at a depth of 4,065 feet to produce 600 barrels of oil per day. It had been a long journey revealing the giant Hobbs field. (more…)
