Certain dates last week, according to the American Oil & Gas Historical Society (AOGHS) (www.aoghs.org), have marked many important milestones in the history of the oil and gas industry.
For example, on May 28, 1923, the Santa Rita No. 1 well, later named by Texas Monthly as the “Oil Well of the Century,” was drilled by Texon Oil & Land Co. near Big Lake, Tex., proving there was oil on University of Texas land in the Permian basin in West Texas.
After nearly 2 years of “difficult cable-tool drilling” that “averaged less than 5 ft/day” in the arid region of Reagan County, the Santa Rita No. 1 well found an oil field, “helping to reveal the true size of the Permian basin.”
That well, named for the patron saint of the impossible, would go on to produce for 70 years. In 1958, UT moved the well’s walking beam and other equipment to the Austin campus, where it stands today.
First Nebraska oil well
Another milestone occurred on May 29, 1940, after more than 50 years of drilling nothing but dry holes, Nebraska began oil production near Falls City in Richardson County in the state’s far southeastern corner.
“Eager to join other states benefiting from revenue gained from petroleum production, Nebraska lawmakers had offered a $15,000 bonus for the first well to produce 50 b/d of oil for 2 months,” AOGHS notes.
Pawnee Royalty Co. completed the Bucholz No. 1 discovery well with production of about 170 b/d of oil in its first 2 months. “The well was about 5 miles east of a ‘vein of petroleum’ first reported by geologists in 1883. Nebraska production today is largely in the southwestern panhandle, where oil was found in 1949,” AOGHS recounts.
First Indianapolis 500
On May 30, 1911, the first Indianapolis 500 was held with more than 60,000 spectators watching the race.
“The first Indianapolis 500 began with 40 cars; only 12 finished the 1911 test of endurance and automotive technology. The winner averaged almost 75 mph after about about 7 hr of racing,” AOGHS recalls.
“All the cars, except the winning No. 32 Marmon Wasp, had two seats,” AOGHS notes. “Most drivers traveled with ‘riding mechanics,’ who manually pumped oil.”
The winning driver, Ray Harroun, would also develop a kerosine carburetor. “Let the fuel people fight it out amongst themselves, I’ll have a car soon that will burn anything they send,” he was reported saying.
These early races emphasized engine endurance. Gasoline powered fewer than 1,000 of all US cars just a decade before the first Indy 500, AOGHS notes.
First ‘book’ about US resources
June 1, 1860, marked the publication of what many consider the first “book” about America’s petroleum resources. Written by Thomas A. Gale and published by Sloan & Griffith of Erie, Pa., less than a year after Edwin Drake completed the first commercial US oil well at Oil Creek in Titusville, Pa., the 80-page pamphlet entitled “Rock Oil, in Pennsylvania and Elsewhere” was regarded by many historians as the first book about the US’s oil and gas resources.
Describing a “radical new fuel source” for lamps, the book sold for 25¢. “Those who have not seen it burn, may rest assured its light is no moonshine; but something nearer the clear, strong, brilliant light of day,” Gale said in the pamphlet.
“In other words, rock oil emits a dainty light; the brightest and yet the cheapest in the world; a light fit for Kings and Royalists, and not unsuitable for Republicans and Democrats,” Gale wrote.
Bay of Campeche oil spill
On June 3, 1979, while drilling in about 150 ft of water, the Sedco 135 semisubmersible rig suffered a blowout of the Ixtoc 1 exploration well being drilled 50 miles off Mexico’s Gulf Coast. State-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) succeeded in reducing the flow to about 20,000 b/d of oil, but the well spilled 3.4 million bbl of oil before being brought under control with two relief wells 9 months later.
“Nature played the biggest role in attacking the slicks as they floated across the gulf. Ultraviolet light broke down the oil as it crept toward land. So did oil-eating microorganisms. Hot temperatures spurred evaporation,” AOGHS recounts.
