A Chronology of U.S. Oil & Gas
This Week in Petroleum History
This Week in Petroleum History, Feb. 23 – March 1
February 23, 1906 - Flaming Kansas Gas Well makes Headlines - A small town in southeastern Kansas found itself making headlines when a natural gas well erupted into flames after a lightning strike. The 150-foot burning tower could be seen at night for 35 miles....
This Week in Petroleum History, February 16 – 22
February 16, 1935 - Producing States form Commission - A multi-state government agency that would become the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission was organized in Dallas, Texas, with the adoption of an "Interstate Compact to Preserve Oil and Gas." Plans for...
This Week in Petroleum History, February 9 – 15
February 09, 1953 - TIME features "Fire Beater" Myron Kinley - Myron M. Kinley -- born in 1896 in Santa Barbara, California, the son of an oil well shooter -- was featured in a TIME magazine article about a blowout and fire on a drilling platform 14 miles off the...
This Week in Petroleum History, February 2 – 8
February 2, 1923 - First Anti-Knock Gas goes on Sale - The world’s first anti-knock gasoline containing a tetra-ethyl lead compound went on sale at the Refiners Oil Company service station in Dayton, Ohio. Discovered two years earlier by General Motors scientists,...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 26 – February 1
January 26, 1931 - Third Well reveals Size of East Texas Oilfield - As East Texas farmers struggled to survive the Great Depression, an oil discovery confirmed the existence of a massive oilfield. W.A. “Monty” Moncrief of Fort Worth completed the Lathrop No. 1 well,...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 19 – 25
January 19, 1922 - USGS predicts Oil Shortage, Again - The U.S. Geological Survey predicted America's oil supplies would run out in 20 years. It was not the first nor last false alarm. Warnings of shortages were made for most of the 20th century, according to A Case...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 12 – 18
January 12, 1904 - Henry Ford sets Speed Record - Seeking to prove his cars were built better than most, Henry Ford set a world land speed record on a frozen Michigan lake. At the time, the Ford Motor Company was struggling to get financial backing for its first car,...
This Week in Petroleum History, January 5 – 11
January 7, 1864 - Oilfield Discovery at Pithole Creek - The once-famous Pithole Creek oilfield discovered in Pennsylvania by a well drilled by the United States Petroleum Company -- reportedly located by using a witch-hazel dowser. The discovery well, which initially...
This Week in Petroleum History, December 29 – January 4
December 30, 1854 - First American Oil Company incorporates - George Bissell and six investors incorporated the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company of New York. Convinced by natural seeps that oil could be produced in northwestern Pennsylvania, Bissell formed this first...
This Week in Petroleum History, December 22 – 28
December 22, 1875 – Grant paves Pennsylvania Avenue with Asphalt - President Ulysses S. Grant convinced Congress to repave Pennsylvania Avenue's badly deteriorated plank boards with asphalt. Grant delivered to Congress a "Report of the Commissioners Created by the Act...
History of oil and Gas
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up to date with our latest articles about petroleum history and modern energy education programs by receiving our monthly email newsletter, "Oil & Gas History News."