A Chronology of U.S. Oil & Gas
This Week in Petroleum History
This Week in Petroleum History, March 8 to March 14
March 9, 1930 - Prototype Oil Tanker is Electrically Welded - The world's first electrically welded commercial vessel, the Texas Company (later Texaco) tanker M/S Carolinian, was completed in Charleston, South Carolina. The shipbuilding boom during World War I had...
This Week in Petroleum History, March 1 to March 7
March 1, 1921 - Halliburton improves Well Cementing - Erle P. Halliburton patented his "Method and Means for Cementing Oil Wells," helping to improve a key oilfield technology. "It is well known to those skilled in the art of oil well drilling that one of the...
This Week in Petroleum History, February 22 to February 28
February 22, 1923 - First Carbon Black Factory in Texas - Texas granted its first permit for a carbon black factory to J.W. Hassel & Associates in Stephens County. Scientists had discovered that carbon black greatly increased the durability of rubber used in...
This Week in Petroleum History, February 15 to February 21
February 15, 1982 - Deadly Atlantic Storm sinks Drilling Platform - With rogue waves reaching as high as 65 feet during an Atlantic cyclone, offshore drilling platform Ocean Ranger sank on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Canada, killing all 84 on board. A Soviet...
This Week in Petroleum History, February 8 to February 14
February 9, 2013 - Making Hole on the Red Planet - Images transmitted from NASA's robotic rover Curiosity confirm it drilled a well on the Martian surface, accomplishing "history’s first ever drilling and sampling into a pristine alien rock on the surface of another...
This Week in Petroleum History, February 1 to February 7
February 1, 1868 - Oil Quality weighed for Pricing - For the first time, crude oil price quotations began to be based on specific gravity -- the heaviness of a substance compared to that of water. In the new oil regions of Pennsylvania, independent producers...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 25 to January 31
January 26, 1931 - Third Well reveals East Texas Giant - As East Texas farmers struggled to survive the Great Depression, an oil discovery in Gregg County confirmed the existence of a truly massive oilfield. W.A. “Monty” Moncrief of Fort Worth completed the Lathrop...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 18 to January 24
January 18, 1919 - Congregation rejects drilling in Cemetery - Although World War I was over, oil production continued to soar in North Texas. Reporting on "Roaring Ranger" oilfields, the New York Times noted that speculators offered $1 million for rights to drill in...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 11 to January 17
January 11, 1926 - “Ace” Borger discovers Oil in North Texas - Thousands rushed to the Texas Panhandle seeking "black gold" after the Dixon Creek Oil and Refining Company completed its Smith No. 1 well, which flowed at 10,000 barrels a day in southern Hutchinson...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 4 to January 10
January 4, 1948 - Benedum Field discovery Deep in Permian Basin - After years of frustration, exploration of the Permian Basin suddenly intensified again when a wildcat well found oil and natural gas in a deep geologic formation. The Slick-Urschel Oil Company drilled...
History of oil and Gas
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