A Chronology of U.S. Oil & Gas
This Week in Petroleum History
This Week in Petroleum History, October 2 to October 8
October 2, 1919 - Future "Mr. Tulsa" incorporates Skelly Oil - Skelly Oil Company incorporated in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with founder William Grove Skelly as president. He had been born in 1878 in Erie, Pennsylvania, where his father hauled oilfield equipment in a...
This Week in Petroleum History, September 25 to October 1
September 25, 1922 - First New Mexico Oil Well - Midwest Refining Company launched the New Mexico petroleum industry by completing the state's first commercial oil well. Drilled near Shiprock on the Navajo Indian Reservation, the Hogback No. 1 well produced 375...
This Week in Petroleum History, September 18 to September 24
September 18, 1855 - First U.S. Oil Company reorganizes - In need of more capital, George Bissell and partner Jonathan Eveleth reorganized their New York-based Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company -- America's first oil exploration company -- into the Seneca Oil Company of...
This Week in Petroleum History, September 11 to September 17
September 11, 1866 - Distilling Kerosene in Vacuum leads to Mobil Oil - Carpenter and inventor Matthew Ewing patented a new method for distilling kerosene in a vacuum to produce lubricants. His innovation would lead to Mobil Oil. Three weeks after receiving his U.S....
This Week in Petroleum History, September 4 to September 10
September 4, 1841 - "Rock Drill Jar" Patent for Percussion Drilling - Early drilling technology advanced when William Morris, a driller in West Virginia, patented a "Rock Drill Jar." It was an innovation he had been experimenting with while drilling brine wells. "The...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 28 to Sept. 3
August 30, 1919 - Natural Gas Boom (and Bust) in Pennsylvania - The “Snake Hollow Gusher” of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, revealed a natural gas field that soon attracted hundreds of exploration companies. Drilled near the Monongahela River southeast of Pittsburgh, the...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 21 to August 27
August 21, 1897 - Olds Motor Vehicle Company founded - American automotive pioneer Ransom Eli Olds (1864–1950) founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan. Renamed Olds Motor Works in 1899, the company became the first auto manufacturer established in...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 14 to August 20
August 14, 1986 - California Oil Museum Building listed as National Historic Place - The original headquarters of the Union Oil Company in Santa Paula, California -- constructed in 1890 and an oil museum since 1950 -- was added to the National Register of Historic...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 7 to August 13
August 7, 1933 - Permian Basin inspires "Alley Oop" Comic Strip - Although the comic strip "Alley Oop" first appeared in August 1933, the cartoon caveman began with 1920s oilfield discoveries in the Permian Basin. A small West Texas oil town would later proclaim...
This Week in Petroleum History, July 31 to August 6
August 1, 1872 - Iron Pipeline delivers Pennsylvania Natural Gas - The first recorded large-scale delivery of natural gas by pipeline began when gas was sent to more than 250 residential and commercial customers in Titusville, Pennsylvania, home of America's first...
History of oil and Gas
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