by Bruce Wells | Jan 29, 2026 | Offshore History
As the 20th century approached, Ohio oil wells producing far out on a reservoir marked the true beginning of the U.S. offshore petroleum industry, according to Mercer County historians.
America’s first offshore drilling once was generally acknowledged to be over Louisiana’s Caddo Lake in 1911 — until researchers in Mercer and Auglaize counties in Ohio said otherwise. The oil patch sleuths pointed to multiple county documents recording oil wells producing above Grand Lake St. Marys at least 20 years before drillers built platforms on Caddo Lake. (more…)
by Bruce Wells | Jan 21, 2026 | Offshore History
Exploring the 1969 offshore disaster and the geology of ancient natural petroleum seeps.
A 1969 oil spill from a California offshore platform transformed the public’s view of the U.S. petroleum industry and helped launch the modern environmental movement — and the Environmental Protection Agency. Ancient natural seeps continue to produce thousands of tons of oil every day.
On January 28, 1969, after drilling 3,500 feet below the ocean floor, a Union Oil Company drilling platform six miles off Santa Barbara suffered a blowout. Between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels of oil flowed into the Pacific Ocean and onto beaches, including at Summerland, where the U.S. offshore industry began in 1896 with drilling on oil well piers. (more…)
by Bruce Wells | Jan 13, 2026 | Offshore History
Post-WWII offshore technologies advanced petroleum exploration and production.
Following World War II, the U.S. offshore oil and natural gas industry achieved an important technological milestone in the Gulf of Mexico when Kerr-McGee drilled the first well out of sight of land.
The Kerr-McGee Kermac No. 16 platform began drilling 10 miles from the Louisiana shore on September 10, 1947, in continental shelf waters just 20 feet deep. With the season’s biggest hurricane arriving a week later, the experimental platform constructed by Brown & Root withstood 140 mph winds — another of its contributions to offshore technology. (more…)
by Bruce Wells | Jul 1, 2025 | Offshore History
The U.S. offshore petroleum industry began with drilling and production from platforms constructed on lakes in Ohio and Louisiana and on California oil piers. In Ohio, state geologists reported oil wells drilled on Grand Lake as early as 1891. Dozens of wells on Louisiana’s Caddo Lake also produced oil in 1911.
By 1897, Henry Williams had successfully pursued the giant Summerland, California, oilfield to the scenic cliffside beaches of Santa Barbara.
California Oil Piers
With reports of “tar balls” on the beaches from natural offshore oil seeps, Williams recognized that the highly productive field extended into the Pacific Ocean. He and his associates constructed a 300-foot pier, mounted a cable-tool derrick, and began drilling. (more…)
