Texas Almanac, 1992-1993 Page: 610
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610 TXAS LMANA 199-199
noted prices of these commodities was one to 15, with
gas on the short side.
The Texas petroleum industry in 1991 is being af-
fected by two factors that are having a worldwide effect
- an oversupply of oil, with most of it coming from
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), and the expectation of only a modest one per-
cent per year increase in demand over the next decade.
This means that no significant change in oil prices - or
gas prices - should be expected during that period.
Texas Oil History
Indians found oil seeping from the soils of Texas
long before the first Europeans arrived. They told ex-
plorers that the fluid had medicinal values. The first
record of Europeans using crude oil, however, was the
caulking of boats in 1543 by survivors of the DeSoto
expedition near Sabine Pass.
Melrose, in Nacogdoches County, was the site in
1866 of the first drilled well to produce oil in Texas. The
driller was Lyne T. Barret (whose name has been spelled
several ways by historians). Barret used an auger, fas-
tened to a pipe and rotated by a cogwheel driven by a
steam engine-a basic principle of rotary drilling that
has been used since, although with much improvement.
In 1867 Amory (Emory) Starr and Peyton F. Edwards
brought in a well at Oil Springs, in the same area. Other
wells followed and Nacogdoches County was the site of
Texas' first commercial oil field, pipeline and effort to
refine crude. Several thousand barrels of oil were pro-
duced there during these years.
Other oil was found in crudely dug wells in Texas,
principally in Bexar County, in the latter years of the
19th century. But it was not until June 9, 1894, that Texas
had a major discovery. This occurred in the drilling of a
water well for the City of Corsicana. Oil caused that well
to be abandoned, but a company formed in 1895 drilled
several producing wells. The first well-equipped refin-
ery in Texas was built and this plant usually is called the
state's first refinery, despite the earlier effort at Na-
cogdoches. Discovery of the Powell Field near Corsi-
cana followed in 1900.
Spindletop, 1901
Jan. 10, 1901, is the most famous date in Texas pe-
troleum history. This is the date that the great gusher
erupted in the oil well being drilled at Spindletop, near
Beaumont, by a mining engineer, Capt. A. F. Lucas.
Thousands of barrels of oil flowed before the well couldbe capped. This was the first salt dome oil discovery. It
created a sensation throughout the world, and encour-
aged exploration and drilling in Texas that has contin-
ued since.
Texas oil production increased from 836,039 barrels
in 1900 to 4,393,658 in 1901; and in 1902 Spindletop alone
produced 17,421,000 barrels, or 94 per cent of the state's
production. Prices dropped to 3c a barrel, an all-time
low.
A water-well drilling outfit on the W. T. Waggoner
Ranch in Wichita County hit oil, bringing in the Electra
Field in 1911. In 1917, came the discovery of the Ranger
Field in Eastland County. The Burkburnett Field in
Wichita County was discovered in 1919.
Oil discoveries brought a short era of swindling
with oil stock promotion and selling on a nationwide
scale. It ended after a series of trials in a federal court.
The Mexia Field in Limestone County was discov-
ered in 1920, and the second Powell Field in Navarro
County in 1924.
Another great area opened in 1921 with discovery of
oil in the Panhandle, a field which developed rapidly
with sensational oil and gas discoveries in Hutchinson
and contiguous counties and the booming of Borger.
The Luling Field was opened in 1922 and 1925 saw the
comeback of Spindletop with a production larger than
that of the original field. Other fields opened in this
period included Big Lake, 1923; Wortham, 1924-25 and
Yates, 1926.
In 1925 Howard County was opened for production.
Winkler in West Texas and Raccoon Bend, Austin Coun-
ty, were opened in 1927. Sugar Land was the most impor-
tant Texas oil development in 1928. The Darst Creek
Field was opened in 1929. In the same year, new records
of productive sand thickness were set for the industry
at Van, Van Zandt County. Pettus was another contribu-
tion of 1929 in Bee County.
East Texas Field
The East Texas field, biggest of them all, was dis-
covered near Turnertown and Joinerville, Rusk Coun-
ty, by veteran wildcatter C. M. (Dad) Joiner, in October
1930. The success of this well-drilled on land con-
demned many times by geologists of the major com-
panies-was followed by the biggest leasing campaign
in history. The field soon was extended to Kilgore,
Longview and northward.
The East Texas field brought a large overproduc-
tion and a rapid sinking of the price. Private attempts
were made to prorate production, but without muchTexas Oil and Gas Production, Amount and Value
Source: Railroad Commission and Texas Mid-Continent Oil and Gas AssociationCrude Oil Natural Gas
& Condensate
a aV
0 0.2
' o :
uo I t0.__C Ej !
> a >a WL. u Q Q24,943
96,868
144,648
290,457
392,666
493,209
754,710
829,874
1,053,297
927,479
1,000,749
1,249,697
1,222,926
1,301,685
1,294,671
1,262,126$13,027
313,781
262,270
288,410
367,820
494,000
914,410
2,147,160
2,989,330
2,748,735
2,962,119
4,104,005
4,261,775
4,536,077
5,157,623
8,773,003$.52
3.24
1.81
.99
.94
1.00
1.21
2.59
2.84
2.96
2.96
3.28
3.48
3.48
3.98
6.9513,324
37,063
134,872
517,880
642,366
1,063,538
1,711,401
3,126,402
4,730,798
5,892,704
6,636,555
8,357,716
8,550,705
8,657,840
8,513,850
8,170,798$2,594
7,042
7,040
18,488
13,233
19,356
44,839
146,941
378,464
665,876
858,396
1,203,511
1,376,664
1,419,886
1,735,221
2,541,11819.5
19.0
5.2
3.6
2.1
1.8
2.6
4.7
8.0
11.3
12.9
14.4
16.1
16.4
20.4
31.1Crude Oil Natural Gas
& Condensate
L L
S 1.0 0 )
c -4I) I 4 - a.
4a Ltd W > d LC a0 >1975 ..
1976 .
1977..
1978.
*1979
1980..
1981
1982 . .
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987 .
1988. .
1989
1990..1,221,929
1,189,523
1,137,880
1,074,050
1,018,094
977,436
945,132
923,868
876,205
874,079
860,300
813,620
754,213
727,928
679,575
672,0819,336,570
10,217,702
9,986,002
9,980,333
12,715,994
21,259,233
32,692,116
29,074,126
22,947,814
25,138,520
23,159,286
11,976,488
13,221,345
10,729,660
12,123,624
15,047,9027.64
8.59
8.78
9.29
12.49
21.75
34.59
31.47
26.19
28.76
26.92
14.72
17.53
14.74
17.84
22.397,485,764
7,191,859
7,051,027
6,548,184
7,174,623
7,115,889
7,050,207
6,497,678
5,643,183
5,864,224
5,805,098
5,663,491
5,516,224
5,702,643
5,595,190
NA3,885,112
5,163,755
6,367,077
6,515,443
8,509,103
10,673,834
12,598,712
13,567,151
14,672,275
13,487,715
12,665,114
8,778,410
7,612,389
7,983,700
8,113,026
NA51.9
71.8
90.3
99.5
118.6
150.0
178.7
208.8
260.0
230.0
218.0
155.0
138.0
140.0
145.0
NA*Beginning in 1979 data are from Department of Energy and Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Note: The production figures of natural gas differ from those found in table entitled "Ultimate Disposition of
Texas Natural Gas," which are provided by the Railroad Commission. DOE figures do not include gas that is vented
or flared or used for pressure maintenance and repressuring, but do include non-hydrocarbon gases.1915 .
1920 .
1925
1930
1935
1940
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970 .
1971..
1972
1973
1974610
TEXAS ALMANAC 1992-1993
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Kingston, Mike. Texas Almanac, 1992-1993, book, 1991; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth279642/m1/614/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.