Petroleum Timeline of Events

Home / Timelines / Petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

Timeline of Events

1859

8.27.1859

Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well.

1901

1.10.1901

The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.

1922

4.7.1922

Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior leases Teapot Dome petroleum reserves in Wyoming.

1938

3.3.1938

Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.

3.18.1938

Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.

1973

10.17.1973

OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Syria.

1979

11.12.1979

Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.

1984

11.19.1984

San Juanico Disaster: A series of explosions at the PEMEX petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City starts a major fire and kills about 500 people.

1989

3.24.1989

Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the ''Exxon Valdez'' spills 240,000 barrels (42,000 m³) of petroleum after running aground.