Sharing Oil & Gas Resources
Editor's Note -- For an updated listing of state contacts, visit the Historical Society's Petroleum History Resources page.
Below is a collection U.S. government-related energy education resources with emphasis on oil and natural gas exploration and production. The programs come from websites and updated information from the U.S. Department of Energy annual compilation, Energy Education Resources: Kindergarten through 12th Grade – edited to narrow scope to oil and natural gas.
U.S. Government Energy Education Resources
The Department of Energy website is a portal to the agency’s many information resources. Department of Energy's “Kids Zone”
KidsZone is a destination for young people interested in energy, science, and technology. The KidsZone offers games, quizzes, contests, and a history of the greatest events and people in energy, plus age-graded instructional materials for energy and science teachers.
National Energy Information Center of the Energy Information Administration
NEIC is the information dissemination service of DOE’s Energy Information Administration, which is responsible for developing energy data, analyses, and forecasts that help enhance public understanding of energy issues.
Available free of charge is the Energy INFOcard, a quick reference providing the most recent annual domestic and international energy data; Energy Education Resources: Kindergarten through 12th Grade propane prices, residential heating oil prices, residential natural gas prices, and gasoline prices.
EIA’s website also features the EIA Kid’s Page;hundreds of links to other energy-related sites; an email subscription and notification service for EIA press releases; a series of energy watches, synopses, summaries, and briefs; an energy quiz; an energy calendar listing schedules for future EIA publications and other energy events; and EIA publications and databases covering the various energy sources.
Department of Energy––Office of Fossil Energy
This organization includes the National Energy Technology Laboratory with offices in Morgantown, WV, Pittsburgh, PA, Tulsa, OK, Albany, OR, and Fairbanks, AK; the Strategic Petroleum Reserve based in New Orleans, LA; and the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center in Casper, WY. Department of Energy––Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)
The Office of Science & Technical Information, a component of the DOE Office of Science, has been serving the nation by sharing science information since 1947. OSTI’s mission is to advance science and sustain technological creativity by making R&D findings available and useful to researchers. OSTI also hosts the FirstGov science portal, Science.gov , in partnership with 17 organizations within 12 Federal science agencies.
Department of Energy––Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory offers a variety of university and science programs that integrate research and education and support science education reform.
Department of the Interior––Bureau of Land Management
An agency responsible for managing over 261 million surface acres, and 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate. BLM offers a variety of educational energy-related programs and materials. Visit the website for programs available in your area, as well as educational products and presentations.
Department of the Interior––Minerals Management Service
The MMS, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, managing offshore energy and minerals while protecting the human, marine, and coastal environments through advanced science and technology research.
MMS provides K-12 educational materials related to energy, minerals, and the environment on America’s offshore public lands. Materials based on MMS science and research in geosciences; physical oceanography; engineering; marine biology; deep sea ecosystems; marine archeology; and social sciences. See also the Environmental Protection Agency
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
A Students' Corner explains how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates energy in the United States. "FERC helps make it possible for you to flip a switch and have energy to run TVs, computers, video games, and everything else that needs power. FERC also makes sure that natural gas is transported to where it is needed in the United States. Take a look at how FERC plays an important role in your life while enjoying the activities and games offered here."
Editor’s Note -- Additional energy education resources are available from national organizations, including:
Alliance to Save Energy
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
American Association of Professional Landmen
American Clean Skies Foundation
American Forest Foundation – “Project Learning Tree”
American Gas Association
American Geological Institute
American Petroleum Institute, "Classroom Energy"
A+ for Energy
Association of Desk & Derrick Clubs
Association of Energy Service Companies
Chevron Learning Center
Energy Literacy Project
energy4me
Energy Tomorrow
Independent Petroleum Association of America
International Association of Drilling Contractors
Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission
National Association of Royalty Owners
National Energy Education Development –– NEED Project
National Energy Foundation
Thinkfinity
The Oil & Gas Producing States
The Oil & Gas Producing Industry in Your State collects comprehensive data about the U.S. petroleum exploration and production industry in the producing states. This collection of statistics – including historical data – is a useful tool for students, teachers, researchers and industry professionals.
The publication's editor is Frederick Lawrence, vice president of economics and international affairs for the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). The annual publication derives data from local, state and federal sources. www.ipaa.org
Published since 1931, the Oil & Gas Producing Industry in Your State includes a glossary and state contacts information – very useful for students and researchers.
This reference resouce now includes brief state history facts provided by the historical society:
Federal Offshore Petroleum History
The Kermac No. 16 discovery well struck oil in the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 14, 1947 – the first successful well out of sight of land. Brown & Root built the freestanding platform 10 miles from shore for Kerr-McGee Oil Industries and partners Phillips Petroleum and Stanolind.
Texas Petroleum History
Confederate veteran Lyne Taliaferro Barret’s Melrose Petroleum Oil Co. brought in the No.1 Isaac C. Skillern well near Nacodoches, Texas, on Sept. 12, 1866. The Lone Star state’s first commercial producer yielded a modest ten barrels per day.
Alaska Petroleum History
Discovery of Alaska’s first commercial oilfield took place near Katella in 1902. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was completed in 1977.
California Petroleum History
In the early 1860s, Josiah Stanford dug about 30 tunnels into Sulphur Mountain near Santa Paula, slanting them upwards so oil would flow down to the entrances. Stanford’s tunnels produced more oil in California than any other production method of the day.
Louisiana Petroleum History
In September 1901, Louisiana’s oil industry began when the Heywood well came in near the communities of Evangeline and Jennings.
New Mexico Petroleum History
Twenty miles west of Farmington, Midwest Refining brought in New Mexico’s first commercially successful oil well in September 1922.
Oklahoma Petroleum History
Curious onlookers gathered at the Nellie Johnstone No. 1 well on April 15, 1898. At 3 p.m., George Keeler’s stepdaughter, Miss Jenni Cass, dropped a “go devil” down the well bore to set off the waiting nitroglycerin – producing a gusher that marked the beginning of Oklahoma’s oil era.
Wyoming Petroleum History
In 1832, Captain B. L. E. Bonneville took the first wagons through South Pass and recorded the presence of oil. Fifty years later, prospector Mike Murphy, bought an oil lease on the site of Capt. Bonneville’s “great tar spring” southeast of Lander.
Kansas Petroleum History
Norman No. 1 came in on Nov. 28, 1892 – the first oil well west of the Mississippi River to produce a commercial quantity. It was also the first well drilled in the vast Mid-Continent oil field that covers parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.
North Dakota Petroleum History
On April 4, 1951, on the Clarence Iverson farm, eight miles south of Tioga, the Amerada Hess Petroleum Corp. brought in the discovery well for the Williston Basin. The basin extends from South Dakota to western Canada, and from central North Dakota to central Montana.
Colorado Petroleum History
On a coal lease near Florence in 1881, Alexander Cassidy drilled for water but hit oil instead at 1,445 feet. At the height of the boom, 25 oil companies and three refineries operated out of Florence.
Montana Petroleum History
Montana’s first substantial oil production began in 1915 from wells drilled in the northern Elk Basin, southeast of Belfry. Over the next 40 years, more oil fields were developed in the Williston Basin, Sweetgrass Arch, Big Snowy Uplift, Powder River Basin, and northern extensions of the Big Horn Basin.
Mississippi Petroleum History
Near Tinsley and Yazoo City, Union Producing Co. brought in the No. 1 Woodruff well at 5,500 feet in September of 1939. Within 15-months, there were 133 producing wells. The Tinsley field has yielded 230 million barrels of oil.
Utah Petroleum History
In 1907, Pat Holohan found oil sand in Washington County and a dozen companies rushed in to drill 14 more. The next year, L.L. Goodridge brought in a gusher at Mexican Hat in San Juan County.
Illinois Petroleum History
In 1882, drillers found commercial quantities of natural gas at Litchfield in Montgomery County. Total output from the field by 1902 was only 6,576 barrels, but by 1940, Illinois Basin discoveries ranked Illinois 4th among producing states.
Alabama Petroleum History
Hunt Oil Company drilled the A.R. Jackson Well No. 1 near Gilbertown in January 1944. The well found commercial quantities of oil at a depth of 2,580 feet. The State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama was formed the following year.
Arkansas Petroleum History
The Busey-Armstrong No. 1 well came in on Jan. 10, 1921, and quickly catapulted the population of El Dorado from 4,000 to 25,000. H.L. Hunt arrived with a borrowed $50 and joined lease traders and speculators at the Garrett Hotel – where fortunes were made and lost.
Michigan Petroleum History
In 1860, Michigan State Geologist Alexander Winchell reported that oil and natural gas
deposits lay under Michigan’s surface. First commercial production began in 1886 near Port Huron. In 1928, Mt. Pleasant’s oilfield made it the “Oil Capital of Michigan.”
Ohio Petroleum History
On Jan. 20, 1886, the spectacular “Karg Well” of Findlay, Ohio, came in with an initial flow of 12 million cubic feet per day – a pressure so great it could not be controlled. Its towering plume of fire was a popular tourist attraction that burned for four months.
Florida Petroleum History
Florida’s first producing oil well came in on Sept. 26, 1943. Humble Oil Co. drilled to 11,626 feet with its Sunniland No. 1 well. The site is by the present day Big Cypress Preserve and a 30-minute drive from the resort city of Naples.
Nebraska Petroleum History
The Nebraska legislature awarded a $15,000 bonus to the Pawnee Royalty Co. for the Bucholz Well No. 1, the first oil well in the state to produce at least 50 barrels daily for 60 consecutive days. The well began producing on May 29, 1940.
Kentucky Petroleum History
Boring for salt water near Burkesville in March 1829, drillers hit an oil gusher. Oil from this well was sold as patent medicine for decades before kerosene distillation created the petroleum industry.
Pennsylvania Petroleum History
America’s petroleum industry began in Titusville when “Col.” Edwin Drake,” working for the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co., struck oil at 69½ feet on Aug. 27, 1859. Drake sold the oil to Samuel Kier for $20 per barrel. Kier used a small still in Pittsburg to refine the oil into kerosene for illumination.
Indiana Petroleum History
South of Francesville, Granville Bates found natural gas while drilling for oil in 1867. His discovery prompted little excitement at the time, since the commercial potential of natural gas was years in the future.
South Dakota Petroleum History
Shell Oil Co. drilled the discovery well for the Buffalo Field in October 1953 in Harding County. The well began producing at 9,332 feet on Jan. 14, 1954. Over the last 50 years, the well has produced 341,169 barrels of oil.
West Virginia Petroleum History
Confederate Gen. William “Grumble”” Jones attacked Burning Springs on May 9, 1863. Jones reported, “All the oil, the tanks, barrels, engines for pumping, engine-houses, and wagons - in a word, everything used for raising, holding, or sending it off was burned.”
Nevada Petroleum History
On Feb. 12, 1954, Shell Oil Co. drilled the Eagle Springs No. 1 – the discovery well for the Railroad Valley field and the state’s first producer.
Tennessee Petroleum History
Between 1859 and 1870, several exploratory wells were drilled in Overton County. The Gilbreath No. 1 on Bear Creek came in at a depth of only 20 feet in 1860. In 1866, the Newman No. 1 well came in on Spring Creek and yielded about 2,000 barrels of oil from a depth of only 19 feet.
New York Petroleum History
In November 1865, Job Moses and his Hall Farm Petroleum Co. found oil in Carrollton Township, Cattaraugus County. The Moses No. 1 well was drilled to 1,165 feet. Initial production was seven barrels per day, but the well was on the edge of what would become the giant Bradford oilfield.
Missouri Petroleum History
Oil and natural gas were discovered in Missouri soon after the Civil War. By the early 1930s, more than 2,500 wells had been drilled.
Arizona Petroleum History
In 1902, Joseph Heslet drilled northern Arizona’s first oil well near Paulden oil seeps. Although it was a dry hole, prospectors and speculators swarmed in. By 1918, no commercial oil deposits were found, and the boom was over.
Virginia Petroleum History
Reporting on the Ruffner brothers wells northwestern Virginia in 1833, the American Journal of Science noted, “The petroleum affords considerable profit and is beginning to be in demand for workshops and manufactories. It affords a clear, brisk light, when burned in this way, and will be a valuable article for lighting the street lamps in the future…”
|
