July 9, 1815
- The first natural gas well in the United States was discovered
accidentally during the digging of a salt brine well near Charleston, WV;
1816 - manufactured gas first used
in America to fuel street lamps in Baltimore; 1841 -
William Tompkins used natural gas there to evaporate brine for its salt,
became first man in the U.S. to use natural gas for industrial purposes;
1921 - gunsmith, William Hart drilled first gas well dug
specifically for natural gas in the United States in Fredonia, New York,
to 27 feet to develop the seepage seen on the banks of Canadaway Creek.
June 4, 1825
- A residence in Fredonia, NY used natural gas for illumination for the
first time for a reception for General Lafayette; house was brightly
lighted by about 30 burners.
January 1, 1918
- The first gasoline pipeline began operation along the 40 miles Salt
Creek to Casper, Wyoming.
May 13, 1949
- Mississippi River Fuel Corp. installed first gas turbine to pump
natural gas at Wilmar, AR.
March 4, 1967
- First North Sea natural gas piped ashore to BP's Easington terminal on
East Riding of Yorkshire coast of England; beginning of ten year
national program of physical conversion of every appliance in country
from coal gas to natural gas; 1962 - first surveys in
North Sea; September 1965 - West Sole field discovered (70
kilometers off Humberside coast, in approximately 28 meters of water);
July 1966 - drilling of production wells began; within ten
years, West Sole field supplied almost all of Britain’s gas.
1985 - Houston Natural Gas, Internorth
merged, formed Enron; rose as high as number seven on Fortune 500 list
of U.S. companies; 2000 - employed 21,000 people, revenue
of $111 billion; December 2, 2001 - filed for
Chapter 11 protection, one of largest corporate bankruptcies in U.S.
history.
July 24, 1998
- Enron Corporation agreed to acquire British-based Wessex Water, PLC.
For the sum of $2.2 billion--which was reportedly paid in cash--Enron,
an electricity and gas titan from Houston, Texas, made a splashy
entrance on to world water utility stage; signaled Enron's first move
towards creating a global water subsidiary; Wessex Water was slated to
be the crowning jewel of the new concern, which would focus on
developing water distribution systems and treatment plants in Asia,
Europe and Latin America.
(American Meter), Alfred Lief (1961).
Metering for America; 125 Years
of the Gas Industry and American Meter Company. (New York, NY:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, 154 p.). American Meter Company; Gas
industry--United States; Gas-meters.
(Ballymena Gas Works), Andrew W. Allen (1991).
A Short History of Ballymena Gas Works: Including Some Notes on Coal
Processing and the Manufacture of Town Gas. (Ballymena ,Ireland:
Ballymena Borough Council, 69 p.). Gas manufacture and works -- Northern
Ireland -- Ballymena -- History; Gas companies -- Northern Ireland --
Ballymena -- History; Ballymena (Northern Ireland) -- History; Gas
energy History Northern Ireland.
(Energen Corporation), Sandra Behel (2002).
Energen Corporation. (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 128 p.).
Energen Corporation--History. October 14, 1852 - John Jeffrey and Company
(Cincinnati, OH), received franchise
from City of Montgomery to provide street lighting using
manufactured gas; today - diversified energy company with two major
subsidiaries.
(Gas Light and Coke Company), Stirling Everard (1949).
The
History of the Gas Light and Coke Company, 1812-1949. (London, UK:
Benn, 428 p.). Gas Light and Coke Company.
(Gazprom), Jonathan P. Stern (2005).
The Future of Russian Gas and Gazprom. (New York, NY:
Oxford University Press, 270 p.). Director of Gas Research at the
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Honorary Professor at the Centre
for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (University of
Dundee). Rossiiskoe aktsionernoe obshchestvo
"Gazprom"; Gas industry--Russia (Federation); Aardgas; Gasindustrie;
Gazprom.
(Indiana Gas Company), Bill Beck (1995).
Natural Gas for the Hoosier State: An Illustrated History of
Indiana Gas Co., Inc., 1945-1995. (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana
Gas Company, 137 p.). Indiana Gas Company.
(Italgas), Valerio Castronovo ... [et al.] (1987). Dalla Luce
All’Energia: Sstoria Dell’Italgas. (Roma, IT: Laterza, 366 p.).
Italgas--History; Gas industry--Italy--History.
(Mapco), Rufus Jarman (1977).
The Energy Merchant (New York,
NY: R. Rosen Press, 279 p.). Thomas, Robert E., 1914- ; Mapco --
History; Businessmen -- United States -- Biography.
(North Thames Gas), Malcolm Falkus (1988).
Always Under Pressure: A History of North Thames Gas Since 1949.
(Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan, 224 p.). North Thames Gas -- History;
London Gas industries.
(Panhandle Eastern), Christopher J. Castaneda and Clarance M. Smith
(1996).
Gas Pipelines and the Emergence of America's Regulatory
State: A History of Panhandle Eastern Corporation, 1928-1993. (New
York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 296 p.). Panhandle Eastern
Corporation--History--20th century; Gas industry--Government
policy--United States--History--20th century; Natural gas
pipelines--United States--History--20th century.
(Parisian Gas Company), Lenard R. Berlanstein (1991).
Big Business and Industrial Conflict in Nineteenth-Century France: A
Social History of the Parisian Gas Company. (Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 384 p.). Professor of History
(University of Virginia). Compagnie parisienne de l’e´clairage et du
chauffage par le gaz--History; Gas industry--France--History--19th
century; Big business--France--History--19th century.
(SONAT), Harvey H. III Jackson (1999).
Henry C. Goodrich: A Life of Business and the Business of Life.
(Montgomery, AL: Black Belt Press, 264 p.). Goodrich, Henry C.; SONAT, Inc., Gas
Transmission. Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (SONAT).
(Texas Eastern), Christopher J. Castaneda and Joseph A. Pratt
(1993).
From Texas to the East: A Strategic History of Texas
Eastern Corporation. (College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press,
296 p.). Texas Eastern Corporation--History; Natural gas
pipelines--United States--History; Gas industry--United
States--History--20th century.
Christopher J. Castaneda (1999).
Invisible Fuel: Manufactured
and Natural Gas in America, 1800-2000 (New York, NY: Twayne).
Associate Professor of History (California State University,
Sacramento). Gas industry--United States--History;. Offshore gas
industry--United States--History; Gas companies--United
States--History; Liquefied natural gas industry--United
States--History; Liquefied petroleum gas industry--United
States--History; Gas appliances--United States--History;
Gas-lighting--United States--History.
Ann Clendinning (2004).
Demons and Domesticity: Women and the English Gas Industry, 1889-1939.
(Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 352 p.). Gas industry -- England -- History;
Gas appliances -- England -- Marketing -- History; Gas industry --
England -- Employees -- History; Women -- Employment -- England --
History.
Paul W. MacAvoy (2000).
The Natural Gas Market: Sixty Years of
Regulation and Deregulation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,
140 p.). Williams Brothers Professor of Management Studies at Yale
University. Natural gas--Law and legislation--United States--History;
Deregulation--United States--History.
Werner Troesken (1996).
Why Regulate Utilities?: The New Institutional Economics and the
Chicago Gas Industry, 1849-1924. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of
Michigan Press, 132 p.). Assistant Professor of History and Economics
(University of Pittsburgh). Gas industry--Government
policy--Illinois--Chicago--History; Gas--Law and legislation--United
States--History; Antitrust law--United States--History.
David A. Waples (2005).
The Natural Gas Industry in Appalachia: A History from the First
Discovery to the Maturity of the Industry. (Jefferson, NC:
McFarland & Co., 276 p.). Gas industry--Appalachian
Region--History--20th century. Accidental
and underestimated by-product of the oil rush of 1859.
Trevor I. Williams (1981).
A History of the British Gas Industry.
(New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 304 p.). Gas industry--Great
Britain--History.
__________________________________________________
Business History Links
How Gas Prices Work
http://www.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm
Learn how gas prices are determined at this informative site. Includes
information on U.S. gasoline usage and consumption, a percentage
breakdown of components that determine gas prices, control and impact of
the oil market by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), U.S. domestic production and supplies, and related resources.
Subjects: Petroleum products -- Prices...
Oil & Gas Historical Society
http://www.aoghs.org/ June 2003 - Bruce Wells, award-winning oilfield photographer,
established Society; dedicated to preserving the history of U.S. oil and
natural gas exploration and production by providing advocacy and service
for organizations that work to preserve that history through exhibition,
material preservation – and especially educational programming.