by Bruce Wells | Apr 1, 2024 | This Week in Petroleum History
April 1, 1911 – First Gusher of “Pump Jack Capital of Texas” –
South of the Red River border with Oklahoma, near Electra, Texas, the Clayco Oil & Pipe Line Company’s Clayco No. 1 well launched an oil boom that would last decades. “As news of the gusher spread through town, people thought it was an April Fools joke and didn’t take it seriously until they saw for themselves the plume of black oil spewing high into the sky,” noted a local historian. (more…)
by Bruce Wells | Nov 13, 2023 | This Week in Petroleum History
November 14, 1947 – First Oil Well drilled Out of Sight of Land –
The modern offshore oil and natural gas industry began in the Gulf of Mexico with the first oil well successfully completed out of sight of land. Brown & Root Company built the experimental freestanding platform 10 miles offshore for Kerr-McGee and partners Phillips Petroleum and Stanolind. The platform, Kermac 16, was designed to withstand winds as high as 125 miles per hour. (more…)
