The Washington oil field is an oil field and in Washington County, Pennsylvania. [1] It also produced natural gas.
The oil field fueled a boom in Washington County, Pennsylvania from the 1880s to the early 1900s. For a time, the McGugin Gas Well was the largest flow of natural gas in the world and provided Pittsburgh with most of its natural gas needs.
The Gantz Sand, named after Washington's Gantz Oil Well, is located in the upper Devonian/lower Mississippian strata. [2] [3] Its clean pebbly sandstone stretches from Washington County into north central West Virginia and produces oil and gas at depths greater than 1,700 feet (520 m). [2] The Gantz sand is frequently misidentified. [4]
The Washington oil field was first tapped by Washington County Eureka Oil Company in 1861. [5] The well, which was drilled to a depth of 900 feet (270 m), was located at the Mannon farm, located at the West Amity station along the Waynesburg and Washington Railroad. [5] Other short-lived exploratory efforts were subsequently undertaken at Prosperity, Lone Pine, and South Strabane Township. [5]
Location | Pa. 18 NW of Washington |
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PHMC dedicated | January 6, 1967 [6] |
In 1880, the Morgan Oil Company drilled a well at Alexander V. McGugin's farm in South Strabane Township. [5] The second well attempt, reaching a depth of 2,247 feet (685 m), hit a large pocket of natural gas. [5] It was the largest flow of natural gas in the world. [5] The rush of uncaptured gas could be heard for miles. [7] Historian Earle Forrest described the event, saying that "one of nature's marvels had been uncorked". [7]
A year of wasted gas flow passed before the flow was tapped into a 6 inches (150 mm) pipe to Pittsburgh. [5] By 1885, 5 wells in the Canonsburg area had been drilled, growing to 17 by November 1, 1886. [5] The success of this well initiated the beginning and development of the great oil and gas fields in southwestern Pennsylvania. [6]
In 1967, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission erected a historical marker in honor of McGugin Gas Well well along Pennsylvania Route 18 northwest of Washington. [6] The marker has since gone missing. [6]
Location | W. Chestnut St. at Brookside Ave., Washington |
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Coordinates | 40°10′16″N80°15′20″W / 40.17119°N 80.25546°W |
PHMC dedicated | October 3, 1953 [8] |
In 1884, Citizens Natural Gas Company drilled a well 2,191 feet (668 m) deep on the Gantz mill property, near the Chestnut Street station of the Pennsylvania Railroad. [5] The well hit a sand formation, now known as the Gantz Sand, that produced oil, surprising the company. [5] That sand formation is known as the Gantz Sand. [5] This was the first oil well in Washington County and set off an oil boom in the area. [5] [9]
Within 3 months, 21 wells were drilled throughout the county. [5] One well at a depth of 2,392 feet (729 m) by People's Light and Heat Company on the Gordon farm north of Washington was the deepest producing oil well in the world. [5] Production levels exploded in 1886; May production levels were from 4,000 barrels per day, rising to 10,120 barrels per day in June, and peaking at 17,549 barrels per day in October. [7] Contemporary reports indicate that over 100 derricks were visible from the LeMoyne well on Prospect Avenue. [7] The boom was especially notable in Murdocksville, Burgettstown, Cross Creek, and Cherry Valley. [7] This increase in oil production signaled a shift in the center of the Pennsylvania oil industry from Northwestern Pennsylvania (home to the Drake Well) to Southwestern Pennsylvania, particularly Washington County. [10]
Washington & Jefferson College also owned oil wells; in 1885 the college purchased the old Washington Fairgrounds and transformed it into a college athletic facility (eventually Cameron Stadium) by erecting oil wells on the grounds. [11]
The boom and subsequent development lasted around 20 years, dropping significantly around shortly after the turn of the century. [7] The last oil was shipped around 1916. [8]
In 1953, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission erected a historical markers in honor of the well along West Chestnut Street in Washington. [8] [nb 1] The West Virginia Division of Culture and History erected a historical marker noting the Gantz Sand in Aurora, West Virginia. [2]
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In the mid 2000s, Washington County would become central to the rebirth of the resource extraction industry, with the development of the hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale.
The history of the petroleum industry in the United States goes back to the early 19th century, although the indigenous peoples, like many ancient societies, have used petroleum seeps since prehistoric times; where found, these seeps signaled the growth of the industry from the earliest discoveries to the more recent.
Spindletop is an oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas, in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil. The Spindletop gusher blew for 9 days at a rate estimated at 100,000 barrels (16,000 m3) of oil per day. Gulf Oil and Texaco, now part of Chevron Corporation, were formed to develop production at Spindletop. The Spindletop discovery led the United States into the oil age. Prior to Spindletop, oil was primarily used for lighting and as a lubricant. Because of the quantity of oil discovered, burning petroleum as a fuel for mass consumption suddenly became economically feasible.
Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil is a type of sweet crude oil, found primarily in the Appalachian basin in the Marcellus Formation in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, and takes its name for the state of Pennsylvania, where it was first extracted in 1859 from the Drake Well.
The Drake Well Museum and Park is a museum that interprets the birth of the American oil industry in 1859 by "Colonel" Edwin Drake along the banks of Oil Creek in Cherrytree Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The museum collects and preserves related artifacts. The reconstructed Drake Well demonstrates the first practical use of salt drilling techniques for the extraction of petroleum through an oil well. A historic site, the museum is located in Cherrytree Township, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Titusville on Drake Well Road, situated between Pennsylvania Routes 8 and 27. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
The East Texas Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in east Texas. Covering 140,000 acres (57,000 ha) and parts of five counties, and having 30,340 historic and active oil wells, it is the second-largest oil field in the United States outside Alaska, and first in total volume of oil recovered since its discovery in 1930. Over 5.42 billion barrels (862,000,000 m3) of oil have been produced from it to-date. It is a component of the Mid-continent oil province, the huge region of petroleum deposits extending from Kansas to New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico.
Burning Springs is an unincorporated community in Wirt County, West Virginia, United States. It takes its name from the natural gas which bubbled up through the spring and would burn when lit.
Pithole, or Pithole City, is a ghost town in Cornplanter Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States, about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Oil Creek State Park and the Drake Well Museum, the site of the first commercial oil well in the United States. Pithole's sudden growth and equally rapid decline, as well as its status as a "proving ground" of sorts for the burgeoning petroleum industry, made it one of the most famous of oil boomtowns.
Oil Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 6,250 acres (2,529 ha) in Cherrytree, Cornplanter and Oil Creek Townships, Venango County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is adjacent to Drake Well Museum, the site of the first successful commercial oil well in the United States, that was drilled under the direction of Colonel Edwin Drake. Oil Creek State Park follows Oil Creek, between Titusville and Oil City, and is on Pennsylvania Route 8. While the creek is the park's main recreational attraction, it also contains the sites of the first oil boomtown and much of Pennsylvania's original oil industry. The park contains a museum, tableaux, and trails to help visitors understand the history of the oil industry there, and an excursion train.
Joinerville is an unincorporated community in East Texas. It is located in western Rusk County, Texas, United States.
Offshore oil and gas in the United States provides a large portion of the nation’s oil and gas supply. Large oil and gas reservoirs are found under the sea offshore from Louisiana, Texas, California, and Alaska. Environmental concerns have prevented or restricted offshore drilling in some areas, and the issue has been hotly debated at the local and national levels.
Shale gas in the United States is an available source of unconventional natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production from conventional gas reservoirs, and has led to major increases in reserves of U.S. natural gas. Largely due to shale gas discoveries, estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States in 2008 were 35% higher than in 2006.
The petroleum industry in Ohio dates from 1859. Ohio continues to produce significant quantities of oil and gas, having produced more than 1 billion barrels of oil and 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas since 1860. Unconventional resources, primarily in eastern Ohio, are likely to increase production in Ohio.
The Utica Shale is a stratigraphical unit of Upper Ordovician age in the Appalachian Basin. It underlies much of the northeastern United States and adjacent parts of Canada.
Berea Sandstone, also known as Berea Grit, is a sandstone formation in the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. It is named after Berea, Ohio. The sandstone has been used as a building stone and is a source of oil and gas.
The Drake Well is a 69.5-foot-deep (21.2 m) oil well in Cherrytree Township, Venango County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the success of which sparked the first oil boom in the United States. The well is the centerpiece of the Drake Well Museum located 3 miles (5 km) south of Titusville.
Fracking is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants hold the fractures open.
The Marcellus natural gas trend is a large geographic area of prolific shale gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale or Marcellus Formation, of Devonian age, in the eastern United States. The shale play encompasses 104,000 square miles and stretches across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and into eastern Ohio and western New York. In 2012, it was the largest source of natural gas in the United States, and production was still growing rapidly in 2013. The natural gas is trapped in low-permeability shale, and requires the well completion method of hydraulic fracturing to allow the gas to flow to the well bore. The surge in drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale since 2008 has generated both economic benefits and considerable controversy.
Globe Inn was a famous inn and tavern in Washington, Pennsylvania. It was opened in 1798 by David Morris. With the completion of the nearby National Road westward to Wheeling, West Virginia, the Globe Inn was well-positioned to serve the new traffic. During that time, the Globe Inn hosted 5 Presidents of the United States: James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor.
The Alamitos oil well #1 or Alamitos #1 is the site of a famous oil well in Signal Hill, California, the start of the Long Beach oilfield. The spot is also known as Porcupine Hill. The Alamitos well #1 was designated a California Historic Landmark on May 1, 1957. The Signal Hill oil discovered in 1921 became the black gold of Southern California. Alamitos #1 started drilling on March 23, 1921. The leader of the drilling was O.P. "Happy" Yowells. On June 23 at 9:30 a.m. the drill, at about 2,765 feet down, hit oil that was trapped under ground. The trapped oil was pressurized by natural gas. The pressure pushed the blowout oil 114 feet into the air, when the drill hit the oil. The drilling rig collapsed in the blowout. A new clean well was drilled nearby and started production on June 25, 1921. Alamitos oil well #1 put out 600 barrels a day and 700,000 barrels before running out.