OIL
AND GAS HISTORY
Both
oil and natural gas were discovered in western Virginia
by the first explorers in the mid-1700s.
George Washington acquired 250 acres in what is
now West Virginia because it contained an oil and gas
spring. This
was in 1771, making the father of our country the first
industry speculator.
A
thriving commercial oil industry was in process as early
as 1819 with the first major wells drilled at Petroleum,
outside Parkersburg, early in 1859; and Burning Springs
a year later in 1860.
Natural gas was moved in wooden pipes from wells
to be used as a manufacturing heat source by the Kanawha
salt manufacturers as early as 1831.
These events truly mark the beginnings of the oil
and gas industry in the United States.
With
oil selling for $30.00 a barrel in 1860 and natural
gushers being drilled at only 100 feet, the West
Virginia oil field quickly made local millionaires.
The wealth of the first oil barons was used
politically in bringing about statehood for West
Virginia during the Civil War.
Many of the founders and early politicians were
oil-men-governors, senators and congressmen – who had
made fortunes at Burning Springs in 1860-1861.
On May
9, 1863, the important Burning Springs oil field was
destroyed by Confederate raiders led by General Jones.
This was the first of many oil fields destroyed
in the war. After
the war, the industry was revived and during the next
fifty years the gas booms spread over almost all the
counties in the state.
Drilling and producing of both oil and natural
gas continues throughout the state to this day.
This
exciting history is on display at the Oil and Gas
Museum, 119 3rd Street, Parkersburg, West
Virginia, 26101 – phone (304) 485-5446.
This history is also documented in the book Where
It All Began, which is available through IOGA and the
Oil and Gas Museum.
|
