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Oil
Oil
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1852 |
James Young (1811-1883), Scottish chemist, took out a US patent for the production of paraffin oil by distillation of coal. Both the US and UK patents were subsequently upheld in both countries in a series of lawsuits and other producers were obliged to pay him royalties. Links: Britain, USA, Oil, Scotland, Whales, Patent 
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1865 1867 |
Thomas Bard and Josiah Stanford found oil in California’s Ojai Valley. Drilling produced the first gusher. Links: USA, Oil, California
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1876 |
Oil was struck in a well near what later became Santa Clarita, California. It was sold to the Pacific Coast Oil Co. of San Francisco in 1879, which eventurally became Chevron. Links: USA, Oil, California, SF
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1877 |
Oil was found in the Santa Clara area of Los Angeles County. Chevron later traced its roots to this discovery. Links: USA, Oil, California
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1879 Sep 10 |
Pacific Coast Oil Co. was founded in San Francisco by Lloyd Tevis, George Loomis and Charles Felton. In 1906 it became Standard Oil Co. (California). In 1926 it became Standard Oil Co. of California (Socal). In 1984 it became Chevron Corp. In 2001 it became ChevronTexaco. In 2005 it was renamed Chevron Corp. Links: USA, Oil, California, SF
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1882 Jan 2 |
Because of anti-monopoly laws, Standard Oil was organized as a trust. Attorney Samuel Dodd of Standard Oil first had the idea of a trust. A board of trustees was set up, and all the Standard properties were placed in its hands. Links: USA, Oil
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1890 |
The Sunset oil field in Kern County, California, and the Coalinga field in Fresno County were discovered. Links: USA, Oil, California
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1893 |
An oil field was discovered in Los Angeles, California. Links: USA, Oil, California
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1897 |
The world’s first offshore oil well was drilled just east of Santa Barbara, Ca. Links: USA, Oil, California
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1899 |
In California wildcatters discovered oil along the Kern River in Bakersfield. Links: USA, Oil, California
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1901 |
English millionaire William Knox D’Arcy arranged to pay £40,000 in cash and company stock to the Shah of Tehran, Muzaffar al-Din, for the right to drill for oil in western Persia. The deal included a pledge, should commercial production begin, to pay the Persian government 16% of annual profits until 1961. Links: Britain, Oil, Iran, Persia
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1901 |
Standard Oil set up shop and established Richmond, Ca., as a company town. Its Richmond refinery opened in 1902. Links: USA, Oil, SF Bay Area
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1904 Jan 19 |
A team of oil drillers led by George Reynolds and funded by English millionaire William Knox D’Arcy, struck oil at Chiah Surkh, Persia, but by March the volume dwindled to an unprofitable trickle. Links: Britain, Oil, Iran, Persia
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1904 |
Ida Tarbell (1857-1944), journalist, published the 2-volume "History of the Standard Oil Company." It revealed the illegal means used by John D. Rockefeller to gain a monopoly and control oil prices and began as a series in McClure's Magazine in 1902. This led to a federal investigation and the 1911 order by the Supreme Court for the breakup of Standard Oil. Links: USA, Oil, Writer, Books
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1906 1916 |
In Daly City, Ca., businesses made gas out of oil at 731 Schwerin St. Links: USA, Oil, SF Bay Area, Daly City
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1908 May 26 |
The first major oil strike in the Middle East took place as engineers working for British entrepreneur William Knox D'Arcy and led by George B. Reynolds hit a gusher more than 1,100 feet below ground in Masjid-i-Suleiman, Persia (Iran). The Concessions Syndicate Limited, later the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., included the Burmah Oil Company of Glasgow, Scotland, and the Persian oil project of William Knox D'Arcy. Links: Britain, Oil, Iran, Persia, Scotland
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1910 |
Production of Egyptian crude oil was started in the Gulf of Suez. Links: Oil, Egypt
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1910 |
Royal Dutch Shell began pumping oil out of Sarawak, a British colony on Borneo. Sarawak became part of Malaysia in 1963. Links: Britain, Oil, Malaysia, Netherlands
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1911 May 15 |
The Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The anti-trust suit led to the dissolution of Standard Oil Co. of John D. Rockefeller. From its remains 34 new companies were formed that included Exxon, Mobil, Amoco, Chevron, Arco and Conoco. Rockefeller’s quarter interest in the parent turned into a quarter interest in all the offspring. The action of the supreme court was based n part on findings by Ida Tarbell, who published articles in McClure’s Magazine regarding Rockefeller and Standard Oil. In 2008 Steve Weinberg authored “Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller.” Links: Oil, Journalism, Supreme Court
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1914 |
Venezuela’s 1st oil gusher was drilled near Lake Maracibo. Links: Venezuela, Oil
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1914 |
The discovery of oil in Venezuela prompted Royal Dutch/Shell to build an oil refinery on Curacao. Links: Venezuela, Oil, Netherlands
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1920 |
The first Arctic onshore oil wells were sunk in Canada’s Mackenzie River valley. Links: Arctic, Canada, Oil
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1923 |
German researchers Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, developed a process for converting coal to gas, which was then used to make synthetic fuels. Links: Oil, Germany
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1923 |
In South Dakota Gov. William McMaster bought cut rate gas from a Chicago distributor and began selling it at a state depot for 16 cents a gallon. Standard Oil was charging 26.6 cents (equal to about $3.16 in 2008), which he called “highway robbery.” Standard oil cut its price to 16.6 cents and other states began to demand the same price. McMaster and Standard eventually negotiated a price of 20 cents a gallon. Links: USA, Oil, South Dakota
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1923 |
Special Indian Commissioner H.J. Hagerman organized the first Navajo Tribal Council which gave him power to act for them in auctioning oil leases. The tribal government was established following the discovery of oil on its reservation. Links: USA, Oil, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, AmerIndian
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We offer additional services to help you as well including
tax attorney help with tax relief issues,
auto accident attorney services, and
sustainable development information to research going green!
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1925 |
Khuzestan, an autonomous Arab emirate once known as Arabistan, was annexed by the British-backed shah of Iran. The area, inhabited by the Ahwazi Arabs, was rich in oil and by 2006 produced about 90% of Iran’s oil. Links: Oil, Iran, Arab
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1926 Apr 7 |
In San Luis Obispo, Ca., lightning sparked a 5-day oil fire killing 2 people. Over 6 million barrels of oil were burned. Final damages were estimated at $15 million. Links: USA, Oil, California, Fire
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1927 Jun |
Oil was discovered near Kirkuk, Iraq, the 1st commercial find in any Arab country. BP was a shareholder in the Iraqi Petroleum Company when it started drilling Iraq's first oil well at Baba Gurgur just north of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk. Links: Iraq, Oil
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1927 |
Oklahoma produced 278 million barrels of crude oil. By 2005 production dropped to 60.7 million. Links: USA, Oil, Oklahoma
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1927 |
Upton Sinclair published his novel "Oil," based on the development of oil in southern California. It became the basis for the 2007 film “There Will be Blood.” Links: USA, Oil, California, Writer
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1929 1970 |
Venezuela was the world's largest exporter of oil. Links: Venezuela, Oil
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1930 Sep 13 |
Gasoline in SF was raised a penny to 21 cents a gallon. Links: Oil, SF
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1937 |
Ruel Call opened a small filling station in Afton, Wyoming. He was one of the grandsons of Anson Vasco Call, who had 4 wives and 37 children. In the early 1960s Ruel launched his own gasoline brand, Maverik. In the mid-1960s his nephew, O. Jay Call, launched Flying J, a discount fuel retailer. In May, 2004, Kristen Call and her father Bill launched iFuel, a discount gasoline retailer that used the Internet for paying with bank transfers. Links: USA, Oil, Wyoming, Banking
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1937 |
Bolivia under the nationalist administration of General David Toro nationalized its energy sector. Toro cancelled the Standard Oil Company's oil contracts and seized the US company's holdings in exchange for a 1.7 million dollar indemnification. Links: Bolivia, USA, Oil
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1938 1992 |
Mobil Oil operated a fueling facility at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf during this period. In 2008 the city sued Exxon-Mobil to force a cleanup of the site and pay damages and attorney fees. Links: USA, Oil, Environment, SF
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1941 Dec 23 |
The 440-foot tanker Montebello was sunk off the California coast near Cambria by Japanese submarine I-21. The crew of 38 survived. In 1996 it was found that the 4.1 million gallon cargo of crude oil appeared intact. Links: USA, Oil, Japan, California, Ship, WWII
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1943 Aug 1 |
Over 177 B-24 Liberator bombers attacked the German oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, for a second time. Of 1,762 airmen on the mission, 532 were killed, captured, interned or listed as missing in action. In 2007 Duane Schultz authored “Into the Fire: Ploesti” The Most Fateful Mission of World War II. Links: Romania, USA, Oil, Germany
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1943 |
Venezuela negotiated the first 50-50 oil deal with Shell Oil and Standard Oil of New Jersey. Links: Venezuela, USA, Oil
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1944 |
Nikolai Baibakov (1911-2008) was named Stalin's oil commissioner. He was fired in 1985 by Mikhail Gorbachev, whose economic and social reforms preceded the Soviet collapse. Links: Russia, Oil, USSR
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1950 |
South Africa set up Sasol as a state-owned company and authorized funds for the development of a coal-to-liquids facility called Sasolburg. Links: Oil, South Africa
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1950 |
An industrial explosion exacerbated oil leakage into Newtown Creek, which separates Brooklyn from Queens. The problem was ignored until the coast Guard rediscovered it in 1978 and determined that oil was leaking from nearby refineries and storage facilities. In 1990 ExxonMobil signed a consent agreement with the state of NY to clean up the creek. In 2007 oil still floated on the water. Links: USA, Oil, Environment, NYC
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1950 |
John W. Nichols (1914-2008) registered the first oil and gas drilling fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission, creating a new kind of tax shelter. Links: USA, Oil, Gas
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1951 Mar 15 |
The Iranian parliament (the Majlis) voted to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and its holdings, and shortly thereafter elected a widely respected statesman and champion of nationalization, Mohammed Mossadegh as Prime Minister. Links: USA, Oil, Iran
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1951 |
Saudi Arabia put the Ghawar oil field into production. It measured 20 miles wide and 175 miles long and was the largest oil field ever found. Links: Oil, Saudi Arabia
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1953 Aug 19 |
Gen'l. Zahedi ousted PM Mossadegh and became the Premier of Iran in a bloody coup that left 300 dead. Britain and the US CIA under Allen Dulles planned a secret mission to overthrow the government. PM Mossadeq had sought to nationalize the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. The US government made a formal apology for the coup in 2000. A 1954 CIA description of the coup was made public in 2000. In 1979 Kermit Roosevelt (d.2000) published “Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran,” an account of his role in the coup. In 2010 Darioush Bayandor authored “Iran and the CIA: The Fall of Mossadeq Revisited.” Links: Britain, USA, Oil, Iran, Persia, CIA
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We offer additional services to help you as well including
tax attorney help with tax relief issues,
auto accident attorney services, and
sustainable development information to research going green!
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1953 |
Petrobras was founded as Brazil produced 2,700 barrels of oil per day and consumed 137,000 per day. In 2006 Brazil became independent from foreign oil. Links: Brazil, Oil
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1953 |
Italy founded ENIPower, a state attempt to break the oligopoly of the “Seven Sister,” the major oil companies of the day. Links: Italy, Oil
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1957 |
Hondo Oil Co., led by Robert O. Anderson (1917-2007), discovered the quarter-billion-barrel Empire-Abo oilfield in southeast New Mexico. Links: USA, Oil, New Mexico
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1960 Jul 1 |
Fidel Castro nationalized Esso, Shell & Texaco in Cuba. Links: Oil, Cuba
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1960 Sep 14 |
Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela formed OPEC. Fuad Rouhani (1907-2004) of Iran served as its 1st secretary-general. In 1964 he was succeeded by Abdul Rahman Bazzaz of Iraq. Links: Iraq, Venezuela, Oil, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, OPEC
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1962 |
Venezuela’s Pres. Romulo Bettancourt announced the cessation of oil exploration concessions to private companies. His energy minister became OPEC’s founder. Links: Venezuela, Oil
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1962 |
Union Oil of California (Unocal) introduced a large orange ball to display its “76” logo at West Coast gas stations. The balls started coming down in 2003. Links: USA, Oil, California, Advertising
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1966 |
During a fishing retreat Robert O. Anderson, head of Atlantic Refining Co., sealed a merger deal with the head of Richfield Oil Corp., creating the Atlantic-Richfield Co. (ARCO). Links: USA, Oil, M&A
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1967 |
Alberta, Canada, began to develop its oil sands. Fort McMurray, population 4,000, grew to 65,000 residents by 2007, including some 200 families from Venezuela. Links: Canada, Oil
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1968 Mar 13 |
Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and Humble Oil and Refining Company (now Exxon Company, U.S.A.) announced the discovery of oil on Alaska’s North Slope (Prud-hoe Bay). The oil companies soon began efforts to construct a pipeline, but work was sus-pended due to environmental concerns. Links: USA, Oil, Alaska
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1968 Oct 9 |
The new military government of Peru seized the country's oil fields. Links: Peru, Oil
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1969 Jan 29 |
An undersea oil well off Santa Barbara, Ca., suffered a blowout and over the next 11 days released some 200,000 gallons of oil that spread over 800 square miles of ocean and soiled 35 miles of coastline. Links: USA, Oil, California, Environment
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1969 Jul 24 |
Petroleos del Peru (PETROPERU S.A.) was created (law No.17753) as a state-owned entity. Links: Peru, Oil
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1969 Nov 5 |
Bolivia nationalized its energy sector a 2nd time. Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz, the Minister of Mines and Petroleum, nationalized the assets and concessions of the Gulf Oil Company, under the administration of General Alfredo Ovando Candia (1969-1970). Links: Bolivia, Oil
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1969 |
Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO), led by Robert O. Anderson, merged with Sinclair Oil. Links: USA, Oil, M&A
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