Chapter 20
The oil industry
1900-1940
Section 1
The oil industry in texas
Oil Becomes an Industry
Oil had very little value in the early years of Texas…
- Spanish used oil on their boats to stop leaks…
- Lubricate machinery
- Produce kerosene for lamps
- Farmers complained that oil ruined their crops…
***High demand for oil in the 1880s
…railroads began using oil for fuel…
1859 – Pennsylvania was the first state to produce American oil…
1866 – First successful oil well was drilled in Nacogdoches County by the Melrose Petroleum Oil Company…produced only 10 barrels a day…abandoned
1894 – Corsicana…1st significant oil supply in the state…
encouraged drill across East Texas
One Texan’s Vision
Patillo Higgins(Beaumont) believed there was oil under the salt dome of Spindletop Hill
…formed a partenership to buy Spindletop Hill and create the Gladys City Oil, Gasand Manufacturing Company {purpose was to drill for oil and develop the are around the hill}
…failed several times…believed there was oil…placed ads in newspapers, magazines, and journals to find geologists(scientists who studied the origin, history, and structure of the earth) and engineers who would carry out his explorations…
The Spindletop Gusher
1899 - Anthony Lucas (country’s leading
expert on salt domes) answered ad…
- Leased (contract to use something for a
set period of time in exchange for a fee)land
at Spindletop…drilled to a depth of
575 feet (lightweight equipment collapsed)…
- Borrowed equipment from the Pennsylvania businesspeople (developed the oil field in Corsicana)…
- January 10, 1901…Lucas hit the largest reserve (a supply of natural resource that is known to exist but has not yet been used) of oil the world had ever seen…
Spindletop gusher shot oil more than 100 feet in the air for nine days until the well could be capped…
- Large lake of oil formed around thederrick(framework or tower over an oil well used to support the drilling equipment)
Fearing the lake of oil would
catch on fire…put up a
barrier to keep the lake
away from the rig…
The lake of oil did catch on
fire…oil well remained safe
Spindletop Oil Boom
Lucas No. 1{Spindletop well}produced between 70,000 and 100,000 barrels per day…more than any other well in the world at that time {more than the combined total of all the world’s wells}…
Within weeks…Spindletop was covered with a forest of oil derricks{packed so close together people could step from one derrick to another without touching the ground}…
Spindletop was the beginning of many oil booms{time of great economic growth} in Texas…
***Land prices rose…$150$20,000$50,000
Beaumont’s population grew rapidly…10,00050,000 in a few months…city never shared much of the profit…oil companies moved to Houston {larger city with better rail lines}
Effects of the Spindletop Discovery
17.5 million barrels of oil were produced in 1902 (47,900 per day)…2 years later slowed to 10,00 barrels a day
- Led to the creation of 600 oil companies [Texaco, Gulf, Mobil]…
- Inspired a state-wide search for oil {shift to an oil economy in Texas}…
- Oil replace lumber as the leading Texas industry…
…Changed the future of Texas by providing a new source of inexpensive, efficient fuel
…Changed the future of transportation and industry
Natural Gas, An Imprtant Resource
Along with oil, Texas oil fields produced natural gas(fossil fuel formed deep inside the earth, ofter found with oil)…
- At first, there were no pipelines to transport it…burned up in the fields…
- Later, huge pipelines transported clean fuel to market…
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