by Bruce Wells | Jul 27, 2023 | Petroleum in War
“Without the prodigious delivery of oil from the U. S. this global war, quite frankly, could never have been won.”
A government-industry partnership built two petroleum pipelines from Texas to the East Coast that proved vital during World War II. “Big Inch” carried oil from East Texas oilfields. “Little Big Inch” carried gasoline, heating oil, diesel oil, and kerosene.
The final weld on the “Big Inch” was made in July 1943, just 350 days after construction began. “Without the prodigious delivery of oil from the U.S. this global war, quite frankly, could never have been won,” proclaimed historian Keith Miller. (more…)
by Bruce Wells | Jul 22, 2023 | Offshore History, Petroleum in War
Routine scan of Gulf of Mexico seabed for new petroleum pipelines reveals shipwrecks.
During World War II, U-boats prowled the Gulf of Mexico to disrupt the flow of oil carried by tankers departing ports in Louisiana and Texas.
Today’s petroleum companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico’s outer continental shelf routinely provide government scientists with sonar data for areas with potential archaeological value. Federal agencies review oil and natural gas-related surveys, and over the years the data have revealed more than 100 historic shipwrecks in U.S. waters.
A 2001 archaeological survey by BP and Shell prior to construction of a natural gas pipeline confirmed discovery of U-166 about 45 miles off the Louisiana coast.
In 2001, the Minerals Management Service noted that “a German submarine definitely got our attention.”
