Tuesday, March 24, 2015

This Week in Oil and Gas History

March 29, 1819
Edwin Drake was born. He is credited for drilling the first oil well in 1859 in.....wait for it......Titusville, Pennsylvania! The well was drilled because it was discovered that kerosene could be distilled from oil as well as coal.

March 27, 1855
Kerosene was invented by Canadian chemist Abraham Gesner. Distilled from coal, it was called coal oil and was the primary source of illumination until electricity. My old company, Mobil Oil, sold kerosene in China. They would give away the lamp for free knowing that they would then sell lots of kerosene.

March 28, 1886
For a brief period of time, Indiana became the world largest natural gas producer with the discovery of the Trenton Field near Portland, Indiana. Yep, the first oil and gas fields were in the north.

March 27, 1975
First joint of pipe laid for the Trans Alaska Pipeline.

March 24, 1989
Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Think of the irony that it happened on the anniversary of the start of the pipeline construction.

1 comment:

Old NFO said...

It's always been about marketing! :-)