Okla-homey
1/10/2008, 07:00 AM
Jan 10, 1901: First gusher in US history
On this day 107 years ago, in the town of Beaumont, Texas, a 100-foot drilling derrick named Spindletop produced a roaring gusher of black crude oil.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/10077/2004808128567903930_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004808128567903930)
The oil strike took place at 10:30 a.m. in 1901, coating the landscape for hundreds of feet around in sticky oil. The first major oil discovery in the United States, the "Spindletop" gusher marked the beginning of the American oil industry.
Capt. Anthony Lucas struck the 50,000-barrel-a-day gusher. As an interesting aside, with a barrel of light sweet crude trading at 100 bucks these days...that would be $5M a day in modern terms.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/8412/2004894158096964076_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004894158096964076)
Capt. Anthony Lucas
Educated as an engineer, Lucas has been searching for oil in collaboration with wildcatters James M. Guffey and John H. Galey, who received financial backing from well-known Pittsburgh bankers Andrew W. and Richard B. Mellon. The discovery leads to the creation of J.M. Guffey Petroleum Co.; later, Gulf Oil Corp.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/8090/2004834364876295696_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004834364876295696)
Soon, the abundance of oil caused prices of petroleum-based fuels and gasoline to become an increasingly practical power source. Without Spindletop, an other fields like it, internal combustion might never have replaced steam and battery power as the automobile power plant of choice, and the American automobile industry might not have changed the face of America with such staggering speed.
We now understand the region, called the Mid-Continent Oil Provinceby the industry is not a single oil field, but rather a broad area containing hundreds of fields in various geological strata and diverse trap types.
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/39462/2003036418629815270_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003036418629815270)
The Mid-Continent Oil Province
Five years following the Beaumont strike, on November 22, 1905, wildcatters, Robert Galbreath and Frank Chesley(along with, by some accounts, Charles Colcord), drilling for oil on NE Oklahoma farmland owned by Muscogee (Creek) Indian Ida E. Glenn, hit the first oil gusher in what would soon be known as the "Glenn Pool".
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/7321/2004810991886055486_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004810991886055486)
The discovery set off a boom of growth for the area, bringing in hordes of people: lease buyers, producers, millionaires, laborers, tool suppliers, drunks, swindlers and newspeople. Daily production soon exceeded 120,000 bbl.
Laws in the early days gave the oil flowing from the well-head to the owners of the well, prompting nearby property owners and lease holders to drill as many wells as possible to ensure they received the profits for the oil under their land. This led to rapid depletion of the resources and the immediate fall of oil prices. Also, the resulting influx of thousands of oil field workers led to wild growth of nearby boom towns and the lawlessness that accompanied them. The states eventually succeeded in regulating the industry and passing laws for the equitable distribution of oil royalties.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/7850/2005429801535842262_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005429801535842262)
Oil-soaked roughnecks
Oil production and the ensuing wealth led to exploration all over the state. The Capitol Field in Oklahoma City is responsible for the Oklahoma state capitol being the only state capitol building with functioning wells on the property. The Mary Sudik No. 1, "Wild Mary Sudik", gusher in the Capitol Field came in on March 25, 1930—she sprayed an estimated 3,000 barrels an hour for the next 11 days.
Other big time historic Oklahoma fields are:
Bartlesville, "Nellie Johnstone No. 1," 1.6 billion barrels. Now in decline.
Burbank (Osage), 1 billion barrels -- still active.
Cushing
Healdton
Greater Seminole, 200 million barrels -- still active
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/6910/2003322431796754133_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003322431796754133)
The Glen Pool oil field was the richest the world had yet known, making more money than the California Gold Rush and Colorado Silver Rush combined -- and making Oklahoma known around the world for oil production.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/8756/2004883331052836393_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004883331052836393)
One hundred years after the discovery of the Ida Glenn No.1, its legacy lives on. That original Glen Pool well ultimately produced 325 million bbls. More than any other single event, The Glenn Pool led to the recognition of Oklahoma, then Indian Territory, and the phenomenal growth of Tulsa, which would become a flourishing city.
Its oil wealth built skyscrapers, hotels, churches, hospitals, a university and streets lined with stately homes. It brought museums, opera, ballet and symphony to a city that styled itself, "The Oil Capitol of the World."
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/9514/2004859358887338861_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004859358887338861)
The Tulsa Golden Driller. Largest freestanding statue in the world at 76 feet tall. The basic angle-iron structure is made of plaster and concrete and was built to withstand 200 mile-an-hour winds. The Golden Driller stands at the main entrance of the Exposition Center where various trade shows, conventions and consumer events are held. The inscription on the plaque at the base of the statue reads, "The Golden Driller, a symbol of the International Petroleum Exposition. Dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God's abundance a better life for mankind."
.
So here's to you Anthony Lucas. Your courage and commitment started us Okies and texicans on a wild ride powered by the black juice of dead dinosaurs, and in so doing, changed the face of the world and the way we humans get around.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2498/insane7zouj9.jpg
On this day 107 years ago, in the town of Beaumont, Texas, a 100-foot drilling derrick named Spindletop produced a roaring gusher of black crude oil.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/10077/2004808128567903930_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004808128567903930)
The oil strike took place at 10:30 a.m. in 1901, coating the landscape for hundreds of feet around in sticky oil. The first major oil discovery in the United States, the "Spindletop" gusher marked the beginning of the American oil industry.
Capt. Anthony Lucas struck the 50,000-barrel-a-day gusher. As an interesting aside, with a barrel of light sweet crude trading at 100 bucks these days...that would be $5M a day in modern terms.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/8412/2004894158096964076_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004894158096964076)
Capt. Anthony Lucas
Educated as an engineer, Lucas has been searching for oil in collaboration with wildcatters James M. Guffey and John H. Galey, who received financial backing from well-known Pittsburgh bankers Andrew W. and Richard B. Mellon. The discovery leads to the creation of J.M. Guffey Petroleum Co.; later, Gulf Oil Corp.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/8090/2004834364876295696_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004834364876295696)
Soon, the abundance of oil caused prices of petroleum-based fuels and gasoline to become an increasingly practical power source. Without Spindletop, an other fields like it, internal combustion might never have replaced steam and battery power as the automobile power plant of choice, and the American automobile industry might not have changed the face of America with such staggering speed.
We now understand the region, called the Mid-Continent Oil Provinceby the industry is not a single oil field, but rather a broad area containing hundreds of fields in various geological strata and diverse trap types.
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/39462/2003036418629815270_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003036418629815270)
The Mid-Continent Oil Province
Five years following the Beaumont strike, on November 22, 1905, wildcatters, Robert Galbreath and Frank Chesley(along with, by some accounts, Charles Colcord), drilling for oil on NE Oklahoma farmland owned by Muscogee (Creek) Indian Ida E. Glenn, hit the first oil gusher in what would soon be known as the "Glenn Pool".
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/7321/2004810991886055486_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004810991886055486)
The discovery set off a boom of growth for the area, bringing in hordes of people: lease buyers, producers, millionaires, laborers, tool suppliers, drunks, swindlers and newspeople. Daily production soon exceeded 120,000 bbl.
Laws in the early days gave the oil flowing from the well-head to the owners of the well, prompting nearby property owners and lease holders to drill as many wells as possible to ensure they received the profits for the oil under their land. This led to rapid depletion of the resources and the immediate fall of oil prices. Also, the resulting influx of thousands of oil field workers led to wild growth of nearby boom towns and the lawlessness that accompanied them. The states eventually succeeded in regulating the industry and passing laws for the equitable distribution of oil royalties.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/7850/2005429801535842262_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005429801535842262)
Oil-soaked roughnecks
Oil production and the ensuing wealth led to exploration all over the state. The Capitol Field in Oklahoma City is responsible for the Oklahoma state capitol being the only state capitol building with functioning wells on the property. The Mary Sudik No. 1, "Wild Mary Sudik", gusher in the Capitol Field came in on March 25, 1930—she sprayed an estimated 3,000 barrels an hour for the next 11 days.
Other big time historic Oklahoma fields are:
Bartlesville, "Nellie Johnstone No. 1," 1.6 billion barrels. Now in decline.
Burbank (Osage), 1 billion barrels -- still active.
Cushing
Healdton
Greater Seminole, 200 million barrels -- still active
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/6910/2003322431796754133_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003322431796754133)
The Glen Pool oil field was the richest the world had yet known, making more money than the California Gold Rush and Colorado Silver Rush combined -- and making Oklahoma known around the world for oil production.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/8756/2004883331052836393_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004883331052836393)
One hundred years after the discovery of the Ida Glenn No.1, its legacy lives on. That original Glen Pool well ultimately produced 325 million bbls. More than any other single event, The Glenn Pool led to the recognition of Oklahoma, then Indian Territory, and the phenomenal growth of Tulsa, which would become a flourishing city.
Its oil wealth built skyscrapers, hotels, churches, hospitals, a university and streets lined with stately homes. It brought museums, opera, ballet and symphony to a city that styled itself, "The Oil Capitol of the World."
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/9514/2004859358887338861_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004859358887338861)
The Tulsa Golden Driller. Largest freestanding statue in the world at 76 feet tall. The basic angle-iron structure is made of plaster and concrete and was built to withstand 200 mile-an-hour winds. The Golden Driller stands at the main entrance of the Exposition Center where various trade shows, conventions and consumer events are held. The inscription on the plaque at the base of the statue reads, "The Golden Driller, a symbol of the International Petroleum Exposition. Dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God's abundance a better life for mankind."
.
So here's to you Anthony Lucas. Your courage and commitment started us Okies and texicans on a wild ride powered by the black juice of dead dinosaurs, and in so doing, changed the face of the world and the way we humans get around.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2498/insane7zouj9.jpg