A Chronology of U.S. Oil & Gas
This Week in Petroleum History
This Week in Petroleum History: July 29 – August 4
July 29, 1918 - "World's Wonder Oil Pool" discovered in Texas Less than a year after the "Roaring Ranger" discovered an oilfield to the south, the Fowler No. 1 well at the cotton farming community of Burkburnett, Texas, revealed a new giant field at a depth of 1,734...
This Week in Petroleum History: July 22 – 28
July 22, 1933 - Phillips Petroleum sponsors Flight around the World - Before 50,000 cheering New York City onlookers, former roughneck Wiley Post landed his Lockheed 5C Vega “Winnie Mae,” becoming the first person to fly solo around the world. Post had worked in...
This Week in Petroleum History: July 15 – 21
July 16, 1907 - Drilling Pioneer patents Casing Shoe - After drilling wells in Kern River oilfields, R. Carlton "Carl" Baker (1872-1957) of Coalinga, California, patented the Baker well-casing shoe. His cable-tool innovation at the bottom of the casing string...
This Week in Petroleum History: July 8 – 14
July 8, 1848 - Congress charters Gas Light Company - Four days after the laying of the Washington Monument cornerstone, an Act of Congress established the Washington Gas Light Company, which manufactured "town gas" for lighting and heat. The new utility constructed...
This Week in Petroleum History: July 1 – 7
July 1, 1919 - Top Independent Producers associate in Tulsa - The two-year-old Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association established its Kansas-Oklahoma Division in boom town Tulsa. Members were a "who’s who" of top independent oil and natural gas producers. Today the...
This Week in Petroleum History: June 24 – 30
June 24, 1937 - Traces of Oil found in Minnesota - In far western Minnesota, a remote wildcat well drilled in Traverse County began producing three barrels of oil a day from a depth of 864 feet. The unlikely discovery prompted more leasing, but no commercial...
This Week in Petroleum History: June 17 – 23
June 18, 1889 - Rockefeller builds Giant Refinery - Standard Oil Company of New Jersey incorporated a new subsidiary, Standard Oil Company of Indiana, and began processing oil at a new refinery in Whiting, Indiana, southeast of Chicago. The refinery, which became the...
This Week in Petroleum History: June 10 – 16
June 11, 1816 - Manufactured Gas lights Art Museum in Baltimore - The first commercial gas lighting of residences, streets and businesses began when Rembrandt Peale impressed Baltimore civic leaders by illuminating a room in his Holliday Street Museum by burning...
This Week in Petroleum History: June 3 – 9
June 3, 1979 - Bay of Campeche Oil Spill Drilling in about 150 feet of water, the semi-submersible platform Sedco 135 suffered a blowout 50 miles off Mexico's Gulf Coast. The state-owned company Pemex well Ixtoc 1 spilled 3.4 million barrels of oil before being...
This Week in Petroleum History: May 27 – June 2
May 27, 1893 - Oklahoma Historical Society founded Before Oklahoma became a state, the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) was founded during the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Territorial Press Association in Kingfisher. An early mission included collecting and...
History of oil and Gas
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