TX History Ch 23.1

Chapter 23: The Oil Boom

Section 1: The Birth of the Oil Industry

Bellwork

•Name some products made or derived from

oil

The Search for Oil

•Demand for oil rose after scientists developed kerosene.

Kerosene Lamp

The Search for Oil

•Petroleum—dark thick liquid commonly called oil

•Fossil Fuel—fuel such as oil, coal, or gas, formed underground from plant or animal remains

The Search for Oil

•Lyne T. Barret—Civil War veteran who drilled for oil near Nacogdoches in 1866

•Strikes oil at 106 ft.

•Shut down due to lack of funds

The Search for Oil

•1886: Oil struck in Bexar County

•1889: Texas produces 48 barrels of oil

•1894: Corsicana oil strike produces first major oil field in Texas

The Search for Oil

•Derricks—towers that support oil drilling equipment

The Search for Oil

•1896: Produced 1,450 barrels of oil

•Refinery—factory where crude oil is refined, or made pure, and made into various products

The Search for Oil

•Oil used for:

–Lubricating machinery

–Kerosene for lamps

–Sprinkled on dirt roads to keep dust down

The Spindletop Strike

•Patillo Higgins—person who first drilled for oil at Spindletop

Patillo Higgins

The Spindletop Strike

•Anthony F. Lucas—engineer in charge of drilling when Spindletop first gushed oil

Anthony F. Lucas

The Spindletop Strike• January 10,

1901: big oil strike

• Shot 70,000 barrels oil/day for 9 days

• Oil shot 200 ft. high

Spindletop Gusher

Boom & Bust after Spindletop

•Spindletop discovery led to an economic boom

•1902: Spindletop produced 20 million barrels of oil—20% of the oil produced in the U.S.

•Supply of oil outpaced demand

Boom & Bust after Spindletop

• Production of oil at Spindletop soon began to drive the price of petroluem down

• 1902: oil hit low of 3 cents/barrel

• Spindletop drained of its reserves