A Chronology of U.S. Oil & Gas
This Week in Petroleum History
This Week in Petroleum History: February 19 – 25
February 19, 1863 - First Pipeline Attempt to link Oilfield to Refinery - With teamsters dominating oil transportation in Pennsylvania, independent producer James L. Hutchings designed and constructed a pipeline to transport oil from a well on a farm at Oil Creek to a...
This Week in Petroleum History: February 12 – 18
February 12, 1954 - First Nevada Oil Well - After hundreds of dry holes (the first drilled near Reno in 1907), Nevada became a petroleum-producing state. Shell Oil Company's second test of its Eagle Springs No. 1 well in Nye County produced commercial amounts of oil....
This Week in Petroleum History: February 5 – 11
February 5, 1873 - Death of an Illegal Oil Well Shooter - Andrew Dalrymple, allegedly a frequent "moonlight oil well shooter" in the Tidioute, Pennsylvania, region, was killed in a nitroglycerin explosion at his home on Dennis Run, the Titusville Morning Herald...
This Week in Petroleum History: January 29 – February 4
January 29, 1850 – Kerosene Inventor patents Gasification Process - Canadian geologist Abraham Gessner received a U.S. patent for a gas manufacturing process, "to enable others skilled in the art...for obtaining of illuminating gas from compact and fluid bitumen...
This Week in Petroleum History: January 22 – 28
January 22, 1861 - Pennsylvania Refinery produces Kerosene - The first U.S. multiple-still refinery was brought on-stream one mile south of Titusville, Pennsylvania, by William Barnsdall, who had drilled the second successful well after Edwin Drake's first U.S. oil...
This Week in Petroleum History: January 15 – 21
January 17, 1911 - Oilfield Discovery leads to North Texas Boom - The Producers Oil Company discovered the Electra oilfield in North Texas, bringing the first commercial oil production to Wichita County. The Waggoner No. 5 well produced 50 barrels per day from a depth...
This Week in Petroleum History: January 8 – 14
January 8, 1903 - Sour Lake discovery leads to Texaco - Founded a year earlier in Beaumont, Texas, the Texas Company struck oil with its Fee No. 3 well, which flowed at 5,000 barrels a day, securing the company’s success in petroleum exploration, production,...
This Week in Petroleum History: January 1 – 7
January 1, 1973 - Esso becomes Exxon - After one year of test marketing the new name, Standard Oil of New Jersey became Exxon, officially replacing U.S. Esso brands and subsidiary Humble Oil and Refining's Enco brands. The nationwide rebranding applied to 28,600 Esso...
This Week in Petroleum History, December 25 to December 31
December 26, 1905 - Nellie Bly's Ironclad 55-Gallon Metal Barrel - Inventor Henry Wehrhahn of Brooklyn, New York, received two patents that would lead to the modern 55-gallon steel drum. He assigned both to his employer, the famous journalist Nellie Bly, who was...
This Week in Petroleum History, December 18 to December 24
December 18, 1929 - California Oil Boom in Venice - The Ohio Oil Company completed a wildcat well in Venice, California, on the Marina Peninsula, east of the Grand Canal, two blocks from the ocean. The oilfield discovery well produced 3,000 barrels of oil a day from...
History of oil and Gas
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