A Brief History of Electricity Production, Oil Prices and Reserves

Ever since William Hart dug America’s first successful gas well in Fredonia, New York in 1821, and “Colonel” Edwin Drake drilled the first true oil well in the state of Pennsylvania in 1859, the ability of oil and natural gas to power electric generation plants, transportation, homes and industry has created both immense economic advances and significant controversy. It was decades before the nature of widespread oil reservoirs was understood. For example, in the 1880’s the U.S. Geological Survey confidently stated that there was “little or no chance of oil being discovered in Texas or California.”

In the early years, virtually all of the world’s crude oil production came from the American state of Pennsylvania. Initially, this crude oil had nothing to do with fuel for automobiles. Instead, it was distilled into kerosene, at a rapidly growing base of simple refineries, many of which were owned by John D. Rockefeller and his partners. The kerosene enabled consumers to have safer, more reliable lighting in homes and commercial buildings, eliminating the need for the burning of candles and whale-oil lamps. (At the same time, it reduced the likelihood of the devastating fires that often swept through cities.) America developed a massive kerosene export industry, sending cans of this fuel by the shipload to distributors in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

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A Brief History of Electricity Production, Oil Prices and Reserves, Business and Industry Trends Analysis

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