History of the petroleum industry in North America
Encyclopedia
Before the Drake well
Indians had known of the oil in western PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and had made some use of it for many years before the mid-19th century. Early European explorers noted seeps of oil and natural gas in western Pennsylvania and New York. Interest grew substantially in the mid-1850s as scientists reported on the potential to manufacture kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
from crude oil, if a sufficiently large oil supply could be found.
Salt was a valuable commodity, and an industry developed near salt springs in the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
Valley, producing salt by evaporating brine from the springs. Salt wells were sunk at the salt springs to increase the supply of brine for evaporation. Some of the wells were hand-dug, but salt producers also learned to drill wells by percussion (cable tool) methods. In a number of locations in western Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, oil and natural gas came up the wells along with the brine. The oil was mostly a nuisance, but some salt producers saved it and sold it as illuminating oil or medicine. In some locations, enough natural gas was produced to be used as fuel for the salt evaporating pans. Early salt brine wells that produced byproduct oil included the Thorla-McKee Well
Thorla-McKee Well
The Thorla-McKee Well in Noble County, Ohio was the first oil-producing well in North America according to the Ohio Historical Society.Dedicated in 1992 by the Noble County Department of Tourism and the Ohio Historical Society, a designation marker sits within of Caldwell, Ohio to recognize the site...
of Ohio in 1814, a well near Burkesville, Kentucky
Burkesville, Kentucky
Burkesville is a city in Cumberland County, Kentucky, United States. Nestled among the rolling foothills of Appalachia and bordered by the Cumberland River to the south and east, it is the county seat of Cumberland County...
, in 1828, and wells at Burning Springs, West Virginia
Burning Springs, West Virginia
Burning Springs is an unincorporated town in Wirt County, West Virginia, USA. It takes its name from the natural gas which bubbled up through the spring and would burn when lit....
, by 1836.
The US natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
industry started in 1821 at Fredonia
Fredonia, New York
Fredonia is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 11,068 as of 2009.The Village of Fredonia is in the Town of Pomfret south of Lake Erie...
, Chautauqua County, New York
Chautauqua County, New York
-Major highways:* Interstate 86/New York State Route 17 * Interstate 90 * U.S. Route 20* U.S. Route 62* New York State Route 5* New York State Route 39* New York State Route 60* New York State Route 394...
, when William Hart dug a well to a depth of 27 feet (8.2 m) into gas-bearing shale
Shale gas
Shale gas is natural gas produced from shale. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States over the past decade, and interest has spread to potential gas shales in the rest of the world...
, then drilled a borehole 43 feet (13.1 m) further, and piped the natural gas to a nearby inn where it was burned for illumination. Soon many gas wells were drilled in the area, and the gas-lit streets of Fredonia became a tourist attraction.
The Drake well, Titusville, Pennsylvania
George Bissell (industrialist)
George Henry Bissell is often considered the father of the American oil industry. He was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, the son of Isaac Bissell and Nancy Wemple....
and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well drilled especially to produce oil, at a site on Oil Creek
Oil Creek State Park
Oil Creek State Park is Pennsylvania state park on in Cherrytree, Cornplanter and Oil Creek Township Townships, Venango County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is adjacent to Drake Well Museum, the site of the first successful oil well in the United States, that was drilled under the...
near Titusville, Pennsylvania
Titusville, Pennsylvania
Titusville is a city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,146 at the 2000 census. In 1859, oil was successfully drilled in Titusville, resulting in the birth of the modern oil industry.-History:...
.
The Drake well is often referred to as the "first" commercial oil well, although that title is also claimed for wells in Azerbaijan, Ontario
Oil Springs, Ontario
Oil Springs is a village in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada, located along Former Provincial Highway 21 south of Oil City. The village, an enclave within Enniskillen Township, is home to the Oil Museum of Canada....
, West Virginia
Burning Springs, West Virginia
Burning Springs is an unincorporated town in Wirt County, West Virginia, USA. It takes its name from the natural gas which bubbled up through the spring and would burn when lit....
, and Poland, among others. However, before the Drake well, oil-producing wells in the United States were wells that were drilled for salt brine, and produced oil and gas only as accidental byproducts. An intended drinking water well at Oil Springs, Ontario
Oil Springs, Ontario
Oil Springs is a village in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada, located along Former Provincial Highway 21 south of Oil City. The village, an enclave within Enniskillen Township, is home to the Oil Museum of Canada....
found oil in 1858, a year before the Drake well, but it had not been drilled for oil. Historians have noted that the importance of the Drake well was not in being the first well to produce oil, but in attracting the first great wave of investment in oil drilling, refining, and marketing:
- "The importance of the Drake well was in the fact that it caused prompt additional drilling, thus establishing a supply of petroleum in sufficient quantity to support business enterprises of magnitude.
Appalachian Basin
The success of the Drake well quickly led to oil drilling in other locations in the western Appalachian mountainsAppalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
, where oil was seeping to the surface, or where salt drillers had previously found oil fouling their salt wells. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the oil-producing region spread over much of western Pennsylvania, up into western New York state, and down the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
valley into the states of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, and the western part of Virginia (now West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
). The Appalachian Basin continued to be the leading oil-producing region in the United States through 1904.
The principal product of the oil in the 19th century was kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
, which quickly replaced whale oil for illuminating purposes in the United States. Originally dealing in whale oil which was widely used for illumination, Charles Pratt
Charles Pratt
Charles Pratt was a United States capitalist, businessman and philanthropist.Pratt was a pioneer of the U.S. petroleum industry, and established his kerosene refinery Astral Oil Works in Brooklyn, New York. An advertising slogan was "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil." He...
(1830–1891) of Massachusetts was an early pioneer of the natural oil industry in the United States. He was founder of Astral Oil Works
Astral Oil Works
Astral Oil Works was founded in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York by Charles Pratt. Pratt was a pioneer of the petroleum industry who formed Charles Pratt and Company with Henry H. Rogers. The Pratt interests became part of John D...
in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York. Pratt's product later gave rise to the slogan, "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil." He joined with his protégé Henry H. Rogers
Henry H. Rogers
Henry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
to form Charles Pratt and Company
Charles Pratt and Company
Charles Pratt and Company was an oil company that was formed in Brooklyn, New York, in the United States by Charles Pratt and Henry H. Rogers in 1867. It became part of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil organization in 1874....
in 1867. Both companies became part of John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
's Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
in 1874.
Mid-Continent
The Mid-continent area is an area generally including Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Louisiana and the part of Texas away from the Gulf Coast. The first commercially successful oil well drilled in Kansas was the Norman No. 1Norman No. 1 Oil Well
Norman No. 1 Oil Well Site is the site of an abandoned oil well, located at the Northeast corner of Mill and First Steets in Neodesha, Kansas, which was drilled on November 28, 1892. According to the National Historic Landmarks Program, the well signifies the beginning of development of the...
near Neodesha, Kansas, on November 28, 1892.
- Corsicana, TexasCorsicana, TexasCorsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45 some fifty-five miles south of downtown Dallas. The population was 24,485 at the 2000 census...
, 1894, Texas, plus 44000000 barrels (6,995,440,980 l) - McCamey, 1928, Baker No. 1., Texas.
Oklahoma
Oil was discovered at BartlesvilleBartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
and Burbank
Burbank, Oklahoma
Burbank is a town in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 141 at the 2010 census, a 9 ercent decrease from 155 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Burbank is located at ....
in 1897. But the initial discoveries created no great excitement until the discovery gusher of the Glenn Pool in 1905. The Glenn discovery came when Gulf Coast production was declining rapidly, and the operators were eager for new areas to drill. The increased drilling resulted in major discoveries at Cushing
Cushing, Oklahoma
Cushing is a city in Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,371 at the 2000 census.The city was established after the Land Run of 1891 by Billy Rae Little. It was named for Marshall Cushing, private secretary to U.S. Postmaster General John Wanamaker...
in 1912 and Healdton
Healdton, Oklahoma
Healdton is a city in Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,786 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Healdton is located at ....
in 1913.
- Greater Seminole, 1926, Oklahoma, plus 200000000 barrels (31,797,459,000 l)
- Oklahoma City, No. 1 Discovery Well, 1928, Oklahoma. The Mary Sudik No. 1, "Wild Mary Sudik", gusher did not blow until March 25, 1930—she sprayed an estimated 3000 barrels (477 m³) an hour (133 L/s) for the next 11 days.
East Texas
The largest oil field in the lower 48 states, the East Texas oil fieldEast Texas oil field
The East Texas Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in east Texas. Covering and parts of five counties, and having 30,340 historic and active oil wells, it is the largest oil field in the United States outside of Alaska, both in extent and in total volume of oil recovered since its discovery in...
, was not discovered until 1930, when wildcatter Columbus Marion Joiner
Columbus Marion Joiner
Columbus Marion Joiner was an American oilman. With A.D. Lloyd, a self-educated, self-proclaimed geologist, he discovered the largest oil field in the world up to that time, the East Texas oil field, in 1930 in Rusk County.-External links:*...
(more commonly known as "Dad" Joiner) drilled the Daisy Bradford No. 3 well, in Rusk County, Texas
Rusk County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,372 people, 17,364 households, and 12,727 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 19,867 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
.
North Louisiana
In 1906, the Caddo-Pine Island Field in northern Caddo Parish, Louisiana was discovered, and a rush of leasing and drilling activity ensued. In 1908, the first natural gas pipeline was constructed to transport gas from Caddo-Pine Island to Shreveport, Louisiana. This was one of the earliest commercial uses of natural gas, which was commonly viewed as an undesirable by-product of oil production and often "flared" or burnt off at the well site.Other innovations in the Caddo-Pine Island Field included the first over-water oil platform, which was constructed in the field on Caddo Lake in 1910. In that same year, a major oil pipeline was constructed from Caddo-Pine Island Field to a refinery built and operated by Standard Oil Company of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The refinery continues to operate today.
Other early petroleum discoveries in North Louisiana included the Bull Bayou Field, Red River Parish, Louisiana (1913), Monroe Gas Field, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana (1916), Homer Field, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana (1919) and Haynesville Field, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana (1921).
Gulf Coast
Anthony Francis Lucas
Anthony Francis Lucas was a Croatian-born oil explorer. With Pattillo Higgins he organized the drilling of an oil well near Beaumont, Texas that became known as Spindletop...
, an experienced mining engineer and salt driller, drilled a well to find oil at Spindletop
Spindletop
Spindletop is a salt dome oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil . The new oil field soon produced...
Hill. On the morning of January 10, 1901, the little hill south of Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
began to tremble and mud bubbled up over the rotary table. A low rumbling sound came from underground, and then, with a force that shot 6 tons of 4-inch (100 mm) diameter pipe out over the top of the derrick, knocking off the crown block, the Lucas Gusher roared in and the Spindletop oil field was born. Spindletop became the focus of frenzied drilling; oil production from the field peaked in 1902 at 17400000 barrels (2,766,378,933 l), but by 1905 production had declined 90% from the peak.
Spindletop Hill turned out to be the surface expression of an underground salt dome
Salt dome
A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when a thick bed of evaporite minerals found at depth intrudes vertically into surrounding rock strata, forming a diapir....
, around which the oil accumulated. The Spindletop gusher started serious oil exploration of the Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast of the United States
The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South, South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States...
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, an area that had previously been dismissed by oil men. Other salt dome mounds were quickly drilled, resulting in discoveries at Sour Lake
Sour Lake, Texas
Sour Lake is a city in Hardin County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2010 census. It was originally named Sour Lake Springs, after the mineral-laden spring water that flowed into the nearby lake. The city is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical...
(1902), Batson
Batson, Texas
Batson is an unincorporated community located on State Highway 105 in southwestern Hardin County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area....
(1904) and Humble
Humble, Texas
Humble is a city in Harris County, Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area.As of the 2000 census, the city population was 14,579. The city shares a zip code with the small Houston neighborhood of Bordersville, although people who live in Bordersville still have Humble...
(1905).
The Standard Oil Company was slow to appreciate the economic potential of the Spindletop oil field, and the Gulf Coast generally, which gave greater opportunity to others; Spindletop became the birthplace of oil giants Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
and Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
. Although in 1899 Standard Oil controlled more than 85% of the oil production in the older oil regions in the Appalachian Basin and the Lima-Indiana trend, it never controlled more than 10% of the oil production in the new Gulf Coast province.
California
Indians had known of the tar seeps in southern CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for thousands of years, and used the tar to waterproof their canoes. Spanish settlers also knew of the seeps, such as at Rancho La Brea
Rancho La Brea
Rancho La Brea was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1828 to Antonio Jose Rocha and Nemisio Dominguez by José Antonio Carrillo, the Alcalde of Los Angeles. Rancho La Brea consisted of one square league of land of what is now Wilshire's Miracle Mile, ...
(Spanish for Tar Ranch) in present-day Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, from which the priests obtained tar to waterproof the roofs of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel missions.
Despite the abundance of well-known seeps in southern California, the first commercial oil well in California was drilled in Humboldt County
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
, northern California in 1865.
Some attempts were made in the 1860s to exploit oil deposits under tar seeps in the Ventura Basin of Ventura County
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
and northeastern Los Angeles county
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
. The early efforts failed because of complex geology, and, more importantly, because the refining techniques then available could not manufacture high-quality kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
from California crude oil, which differed chemically from Pennsylvania crude oil. Most California crude oil in the early years was turned into the less lucrative products of fuel oil and asphalt.
Oil production in the Los Angeles Basin
Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...
started with the discovery of the Brea-Olinda Oil Field
Brea-Olinda Oil Field
The Brea-Olinda Oil Field is a large oil field in northern Orange County and Los Angeles County, California, along the southern edge of the Puente Hills, about four miles northeast of Fullerton, and adjacent to the city of Brea...
in 1880, and continued with the development of the Los Angeles City Oil Field
Los Angeles City Oil Field
The Los Angeles City Oil Field is a large oil field north of Downtown Los Angeles. Long and narrow, it extends from immediately south of Dodger Stadium west to Vermont Avenue, encompassing an area of about four miles long by a quarter mile across...
in 1893, the Beverly Hills Oil Field
Beverly Hills Oil Field
The Beverly Hills Oil Field is a large and currently active oil field underneath part of the city of Beverly Hills, California, USA, and portions of the adjacent city of Los Angeles...
in 1900, the Salt Lake Oil Field
Salt Lake Oil Field
The Salt Lake Oil Field is an oil field underneath the city of Los Angeles, California. Discovered in 1902, and developed quickly in the following years, the Salt Lake field was once the most productive in California; over 50 million barrels of oil have been extracted from it, mostly in the first...
in 1902, and many others. The discovery of the Long Beach Oil Field
Long Beach Oil Field
The Long Beach Oil Field is a large oil field underneath the cities of Long Beach and Signal Hill, California, in the United States. Discovered in 1921, the field was enormously productive in the 1920s, with hundreds of oil derricks covering Signal Hill and adjacent parts of Long Beach; largely...
in 1921, which proved to be the world's richest in production per-acre of the time, increased the importance of the Los Angeles Basin as a worldwide oil producer. This increased again with the discovery of the Wilmington Oil Field
Wilmington Oil Field
The Wilmington Oil Field is a large petroleum field in Los Angeles County in southern California in the United States in terms of cumulative oil produced. Discovered in 1932, it is the third largest oil field in the United States...
in 1932, and the development of the Port of Los Angeles as a means of shipping crude oil overseas.
Production in Santa Barbara County began in the 1890s with the development of the Summerland Oil Field
Summerland Oil Field
The Summerland Oil Field is an inactive oil field in Santa Barbara County, California, about four miles east of the city of Santa Barbara, within and next to the unincorporated community of Summerland...
, which included the world's first offshore oil wells. With the discovery of the Orcutt
Orcutt Oil Field
The Orcutt Oil Field is a large oil field in the Solomon Hills south of Orcutt, in Santa Barbara County, California. Discovered in 1901 by William Warren Orcutt, it was the first giant field to be found in Santa Barbara County, and its development engendered the boom town of Orcutt, now the major...
and Lompoc
Lompoc Oil Field
The Lompoc Oil Field is a large oil field in the Purisima Hills north of Lompoc, California, in Santa Barbara County. Discovered in 1903, two years after the discovery of the Orcutt Oil Field in the Solomon Hills, it is one of the oldest oil fields in northern Santa Barbara County, and one of the...
fields, northern Santa Barbara County became a regional center of production; towns such as Orcutt
Orcutt, California
Orcutt is an unincorporated township located in the Santa Maria Valley of California, and a census-designated place; it is in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Orcutt is named for William W. Orcutt, the manager of the Geological, Land and Engineering Departments of the Union Oil...
owe their existence to the quickly-growing industry.
Oil in the San Joaquin Basin
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
was first discovered at the Coalinga field in 1890. By 1901, the San Joaquin Basin was the main oil-producing region of California, and it remains so in the 21st century, with huge oil fields including the Midway-Sunset
Midway-Sunset Oil Field
The Midway-Sunset Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County, San Joaquin Valley, California in the United States. Discovered in 1894, and having a cumulative production of close to of oil at the end of 2006, it is the largest oil field in California and the third largest in the United States....
, Kern River
Kern River Oil Field
The Kern River Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley of California, north-northeast of Bakersfield in the lower Sierra foothills...
, and Belridge
South Belridge Oil Field
The South Belridge Oil Field is a large oil field in northwestern Kern County, San Joaquin Valley, California, about forty miles west of Bakersfield...
fields producing much of California's onshore oil.
Rocky Mountains
The first commercial oil well in the Rocky Mountains was drilled near Canon City, ColoradoCañon City, Colorado
The City of Cañon City is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Fremont County, State of Colorado. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the city population was 16,000 in 2005. Cañon City is noted for being the location of nine state and four ...
in 1862. The wells in the Canyon City-Florence field, drilled near surface oil seeps, produced from fractures in the Pierre Shale
Pierre Shale
The Pierre Shale is a geologic formation or series in the Upper Cretaceous which occurs east of the Rocky Mountains in the Great Plains, from North Dakota to New Mexico....
.
- Bighorn BasinBighorn BasinThe Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Bighorn Mountains on the east, and the Owl Creek Mountains and Bridger Mountains on the south...
- Denver BasinDenver BasinThe Denver Basin, sometimes also called the Julesburg Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin , or the D-J Basin, is a geologic structural basin centered in eastern Colorado in the United States, but extending into southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and western Kansas...
- Green River Basin
- North Park (Colorado basin)North Park (Colorado basin)North Park is a high, sparsely populated basin in the Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado in the United States. It encompasses a wide valley in Jackson County rimmed by mountain ranges at the headwaters of the North Platte River and several smaller tributaries, including the Michigan River,...
- Paradox BasinParadox BasinThe Paradox Basin is an asymmetric foreland basin located mostly in southeast Utah and southwest Colorado, but extending into northeast Arizona and northwest New Mexico. The basin is a large elongate northwest to southeast oriented depression formed during the late Paleozoic Era...
- Piceance BasinPiceance BasinThe Piceance Basin is a geologic structural basin in northwestern Colorado, in the United States. It includes geologic formations from Cambrian to Holocene in age, but the thickest section is made up of rocks from the Cretaceous Period...
- Powder River BasinPowder River BasinThe Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
- Raton BasinRaton BasinThe Raton Basin is a geologic structural basin in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. It takes its name from Raton Pass and the town of Raton, New Mexico. In extent, the basin is approximately east-west, and north-south, in Huerfano and Las Animas Counties, Colorado, and Colfax County,...
- San Juan BasinSan Juan BasinThe San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin in the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States; its main portion covers around , encompassing much of northwestern New Mexico, southwest Colorado, and parts of Arizona and Utah....
- Uinta Basin
Alaska
A Russian sea captain noted oil seeps along the shore of the Cook InletCook Inlet
Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
as early as 1853, and oil drilling began in 1898 in a number of locations along the southern coast of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. Production was relatively small, however, until huge discoveries were made on Alaska's remote North Slope
North Slope
North Slope can refer to:* Alaska North Slope* North Slope Borough, Alaska* North Slope, Tacoma, Washington* North Slope, an Inupiaq language dialect...
.
Petroleum seeps on the North Slope have been known for many years, and in 1923, the federal government created US Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 to cover the presumed oil fields beneath the seeps. Some exploration drilling was done in the reserve during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the 1950s, but the remote location deterred intensive exploration until the 1960s. The Prudhoe Bay Oil Field
Prudhoe Bay oil field
Prudhoe Bay Oil Field is a large oil field on Alaska's North Slope. It is the largest oil field in both the United States and in North America, covering and originally containing approximately of oil.. BP. August 2006...
, the largest oil field in the United States in terms of total oil produced, was discovered in 1968. Production began in 1977, following completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Through 2005, the field has produced 13 Goilbbl of oil, and is estimated to contain another 2 Goilbbl of economically recoverable oil.
See also
- The Seven SistersSeven Sisters (oil companies)The "Seven Sisters" was a term coined in the 1950s by businessman Enrico Mattei, then-head of the Italian state oil company Eni, to describe the seven oil companies which formed the "Consortium for Iran" and dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the 1970s...
- Offshore oil and gas in the United StatesOffshore oil and gas in the United StatesOffshore oil and gas in the United States provides a large portion of the nation’s oil and gas supply. Large oil and gas reservoirs are found in the sea nearby Louisiana, Texas, California, and Alaska...
- Oil industry