A Chronology of U.S. Oil & Gas
This Week in Petroleum History
This Week in Petroleum History, September 21 to September 27
September 21, 1901 - First Louisiana Oil Well - Just nine months after the January 1901 "Lucas Gusher" at Spindletop, Texas, another historic oilfield was revealed 90 miles east in Louisiana. W. Scott Heywood - already successful thanks to wells drilled at Spindletop...
This Week in Petroleum History, September 14 to September 20
September 14, 1871 - President Grant visits Pennsylvania Oil Region - During a tour of northwestern Pennsylvania, President Ulysses S. Grant visited Titusville, Petroleum Center, and Oil City to learn more about the nation's growing petroleum industry. Consumer demand...
This Week in Petroleum History, September 7 to September 13
September 7, 1917 - Oilfield Legacy of Texas Governor Hogg - After drilling 20 dry holes, the Tyndall-Wyoming Oil Company completed the No. 1 Hogg well 50 miles south of Houston. Four months later, a second well produced about 600 barrels a day. The discoveries ended...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 31 to September 6
August 31, 1850 - San Francisco Utility manufactures Gas from Coal - The San Francisco Gas Company incorporated in 1850 to produce and distribute "manufactured gas" extracted from coal. Irish immigrants Peter and James Donahue and engineer Joseph Eastland erected a...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 24 to August 30
August 24, 1892 - Future "Prophet of Spindletop" founds Oil Company Patillo Higgins, who would become known as the "Prophet of Spindletop," founded the Gladys City Oil, Gas & Manufacturing Company. With three partners, he leased 2,700 acres near Beaumont, Texas....
This Week in Petroleum History, August 17 to August 23
August 17, 1785 – Oil Discovered Floating on Pennsylvania Creek - Two years after the end of the Revolutionary War, oil was reported floating on a creek in northwestern Pennsylvania. "Oil Creek has taken its name from an oil or bituminous matter being found floating...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 10 to August 16
August 10, 1909 - Hughes patents Dual-Cone Roller Bit - "Fishtail" drill bits became obsolete after Howard Hughes Sr. of Houston, Texas, patented the dual-cone roller bit consisting of two rotating cones. By pulverizing hard rock, his bit led to faster and deeper...
This Week in Petroleum History, August 3 to August 9
August 3, 1769 - La Brea Asphalt (Not Tar) Pits discovered - The La Brea, "the tar," pits were discovered during a 1769 Spanish expedition on the West Coast. "We debated whether this substance, which flows melted from underneath the earth, could occasion so many...
This Week in Petroleum History, July 27 – August 2
July 27, 1918 - Standard Oil of New York launches Concrete Oil Tanker - The Socony, America's first concrete vessel designed to carry oil, launched from its shipyard at Flushing Bay, New York. Built for the Standard Oil Company of New York, the barge was 98-feet long...
This Week in Petroleum History, July 20 – July 26
July 20, 1920 - Texas Company discovers Permian Basin Oilfield - The Permian Basin made headlines in 1920 when a West Texas wildcat well found oil at a depth of 2,750 feet on land owned by William Abrams, an official of the Texas & Pacific Railway. Drilled and...
History of oil and Gas
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