A Chronology of U.S. Oil & Gas
This Week in Petroleum History
This Week in Petroleum History, October 23 to October 29
October 23, 1908 - Salt Creek Well launches Wyoming Boom - Wyoming's first oil boom began when the Dutch company Petroleum Maatschappij Salt Creek completed its "Big Dutch" well about 40 miles north of Casper. Salt Creek's potential had been known since the 1880s,...
This Week in Petroleum History, October 16 to October 22
October 16, 1931 - Natural Gas Pipeline sets Record - The first long-distance, high-pressure U.S. natural gas pipeline went into service during the Great Depression, linking prolific Texas Panhandle gas fields to consumers in Chicago. A.O. Smith Corporation developed...
This Week in Petroleum History, October 9 to October 15
October 9, 1999 - Converted Offshore Platform launches Rocket - Sea Launch, a Boeing-led consortium of companies from the United States, Russia, Ukraine and Norway, launched its first commercial rocket using the Ocean Odyssey, a modified semi-submersible drilling...
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...
History of oil and Gas
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