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MID-CONTINENT FIELD OF KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA
In 1919, the great Mid-Continent Field of Kansas and Oklahoma produced 193 million barrels of crude, more than half of all the crude produced in the United States. At the time, this gigantic field was producing nearly twice as much as California and more than twice as much as the combined production of the Appalachian, Gulf, Rocky Mountain, Illinois and Lima Fields.
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EMMA SUMMERS, OIL QUEEN OF CALIFORNIA
Emma Summers was early owner of oil wells in California. Confident of inevitable success, Emma purchased interests in other wells before her first well was finished. She hired her own workmen, personally purchased drilling tools and supplies and superintended the daily work and well development. She was not afraid of going into debt and would work at night teaching piano to help pay her workers and the growing stack of bills.
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The 42 Gallon Barrel [History]
As crude prices hit record highs, questions arise over barrel measurement [history]
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Three Fabulous Decades
The decades from 1900 to 1930 were the period of accelerated development for the petroleum industry. Accelerated development is when improvements multiply, prices are reduced, new markets are tapped, and the industry swiftly expands.
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Oil Strategy in World War II
The Allies hastened their victory by crippling German synthetic gasoline capacity and by severing Japan’s precarious supply lines.
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John F. Carll: The First Petroleum Geologist and Engineer
John Franklin Carll was born in Bushwick, New York, now Brooklyn, on May 7, 1828. Carll moved to Venango County, Pennsylvania in 1864.
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Charles Lockhart
Charles Lockhart of Pittsburgh first became involved in the early Pittsburgh area petroleum trade in 1852, seven years before the commercial success of the Drake Well in 1859.
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George Bissell: Oil Industry Patriarch
George Bissell in New York City learned by telegraph of the Drake Well’s success the same day the good news reached nearby Titusville in late August 1859.
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Galena Oil
Galena Oil manufactured in Franklin rose from humble beginnings in the 1860s to lubricate all the railroads in the United States and Canada, 75 percent of the South American railroads, 29 percent of the street railways in the United States and a large percentage of the rail lines in Europe.
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Nitroglycerine Saved Many Wells
Less than a year after the first oil well was drilled in northwestern Pennsylvania, well owners had trouble. Paraffin was the culprit. Petroleum in this region is rich in the waxy substance and it was clogging the underground flow of oil. The producers were an ingenious lot and they quickly set out to find a solution.