United states petroleum industry By: Scott Winslow

The Birth of the Industry

Central Oil Run Petroleum COmpany Stock Certificate Dated 1865 the Central Oil Run Petroleum Company Which Operated in Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

A Scarce Colorful 1865 Venango County, Pennsylvania Oil Stock Perkiomen Oil COmpany A Scarce Colorful 1865 Venango County, Pennsylvania Oil Stock

Pope Farm Oil COmpany Pope Farm Oil Company operated several wells on Pope Farm, located in the Bully Hill area in Sandycreek Township, Venago County, PA. The company had multiple wells, of which two resulted in some success. The Thompson wells produced 10 barrels a day at its peak, and a second well at a depth of 580 feet that yielded a good flow of oil.

Ritchie Coal Oil Company The Ritchie Coal Oil Company owned valuable land near McFarland’s Run, a tributary of the Hughes River in Ritchie County, West Virginia. This land contained portions of a Bitumen Lode run, described as being very pure, that was mined and used to create an oil byproduct.

American Oil and Securities Company A Superb Panoramic View of an Oilfield in 1918

Bergen oil & Coal COmpany The Bergen Oil & Coal Company owned the two Dye Farms (180 acres total) in Washington County Ohio and operated its wells beginning in 1864. The Dye farms were situated on the Macksburg Oil Field, one of the state’s earliest and most productive areas of petroleum extraction.

Germantown Petroleum Company A Forrest County, Pennsylvania Oil Stock Dated 1865

Jersey Well Oil COmpany A Typical Oil Vignette Dated 1866

Tremont Oil Company of Philadelphia Many Oil Stocks Dated in the 1860’s Bear Adhesive Revenue Stamps Such as this Philadelphia Oil Company

Big Sandy River Cannel Coal Mining & Oil Manufacturing Company Big Sandy River Cannel Coal Mining & Oil Manufacturing Company was granted its charter by the Wayne County, VA Courts on November 9, 1858. Operations took place on the Big Sandy River, a tributary of the Ohio River in Kentucky and present day West Virginia.

The New York Petroleum Company A Scarce New York Oil Stock Bearing Two Vignettes of Oil Scenes

Aetna Petroleum Corporation Aetna Petroleum Corporation was organized on July 19, 1920 following the merger of several small Texas companies. Aetna operated some 30 wells from 1920 until the company folded in 1924 following accusations of fraud and subsequent legal actions.

Richfield Oil Company of California The Richfield Oil Company of California was created in 1905, and opened its first service station to the public in 1917 in Los Angeles. The company expanded eastward, but was forced to sell its eastern operations in 1935 to Consolidated Oil due to the Great Depression. The original west coast operations survived, however. Richfield Oil then merged with Atlantic Refining in 1966, forming the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), which today has 1200 stations throughout the U.S.

United States Petroleum Company The Unites States Petroleum Company was formed in 1864 and began operations on a small tract of rented land on the Thomas Holden Farm in Venango County, PA. The well established here was later named the Frazier Well, producing 250 barrels a day, with a pipeline carrying oil to Titusville. The boom town of Pithole was created around the operations of the Oil Company, which lasted six months.

Arroyo Oil Company The Arroyo Oil Company was established in November, 1899 during the rise of the large California boom town Bakersfield. With the discovery of the Kern River Oil Field, Bakersfield grew into a large town with numerous petroleum companies almost overnight.

The Burksville Kentucky Oil and Mining Company The Burksville Kentucky Oil and Mining Company operated on over 8,200 acres of land in the Cumberland Valley Oil Region, principally along the Cumberland River.

Colonial Filling Stations, Inc. Colonial Filling Stations, Inc. was a subsidiary of the Beacon Oil Company. Beacon Oil merged with the Colonial Oil Company in 1928. The new Colonial Beacon Oil Company supplied gasoline throughout the northeast via its branches such as Colonial Filling Stations. Standard Oil of New Jersey bought the Company in 1931 and used it to distribute their gasoline throughout New England.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation Occidental Petroleum was founded in California in 1920 and today is one of the largest Oil and Gas Exploration and Producers in the world. In 1957, Dr. Armand Hammer became the President and CEO. He saw the company expand internationally following its discovery of the very successful Lathrop Gas Field, near Sacramento, CA.

Shell Union Oil Corporation The Shell Union Oil Corporation was formed in 1922 with the merger of Shell Corp. of California, Roxana Petroleum and Union Oil Company of Delaware to establish a holding company for U.S. assets principally owned by Royal Dutch Shell. Shell Union operated independently for much of the 20th century until its parent company began assuming control in the mid 1980’s. It operates today as Shell Oil (Royal Dutch Shells U.S. branch) and is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the country.

The Texas Corporation The Texas Corporation traces its routes to the Texas Fuel Company, created by Joe Cullinan in 1901. The Texas Corporation was officially founded in 1903 and became the first company to sell gasoline to all U.S. states under the same brand. The company sold gasoline under the brand Texaco and changed its official name from The Texas Corporation to Texaco in 1959 to emphasize their principal product. Texaco was purchased by Chevron in 2001 with the brand remaining in use both in the United States and internationally.