Louisiana Oil and Gas production

History of the Industry

ABOUT 1868 — The Louisiana Oil and Coal Company drilled a well about 15 miles west of Lake Charles in search of oil but was unsuccessful although it did reveal very extensive sulfur deposits.

1870 — A night watchman at an ice plant in Shreveport accidentally discovered natural gas emanating from a well drilled in search of artesian water when he struck a match. Gas from the well was piped to the plant to provide illumination-the first use in the state of the fuel that today heats the vast majority of Louisiana homes and places of business.

Sept. 21, 1901 — The Heywood well six miles from Jennings was brought in, producing the first oil discovered in the state in commercial quantities and marking what is recognized as the birth of the industry in the state.

1906 — The Louisiana Legislature passed the first state oil and gas conservation law.

1908 — The first natural gas pipeline was laid in Louisiana. It brought gas from the Caddo Field to Shreveport.

1909 — The new refinery in Baton Rouge (which is the Exxon refinery of today) went on stream. Today it is, in terms of capacity, among the largest oil refineries on the North American continent. This is also the year in which construction began on Louisiana’s first long-distance oil pipeline, which by 1910 was transporting crude oil from Caddo Parish to the Baton Rouge refinery.

ABOUT 1910 — The first over-water drilling in America occurred on Caddo Lake near Shreveport.

1913 — A major discovery occurred in Northwest Louisiana when the Bull Bayou Field was brought in.

1916 — The well resulting in the discovery of the Monroe Gas Field was brought in.

1921 — The prolific Haynesville Gas Field was discovered.

1940 — The oil and gas industry came to Central Louisiana in a big way with the discovery of the Olla Field in LaSalle Parish.

1942 — The Lake St. John Field on the eastern border of Louisiana was discovered.

Nov. 14, 1947 — The first oil well out of sight of land was brought in by Kerr-McGee in the Gulf of Mexico about 45 miles south of Morgan City in the Ship Shoal Block 32 Field, marking the birth of the offshore oil and gas industry.

1948 — The Main Pass Field came in near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

1949 — Three major fields were discovered in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast. They were the Eugene Island, BayMarchand and Vermillion Fields.

• Compressed Natural Gas production
• Oil and Gas production Process
• Louisiana Oil and Gas Association