Oil and Gas

1950- Aramco agreement with Saudi Arabia

A chronological summary of some of the key events impacting the evolution of the world petroleum industry,significant world events that had a major impact on the oil industry are indicated in dark red.

1594- A stone dated 1594 and signed by Allahyar Mahammad Nurogly is found in an oil well (kolodets) 35 metres deep in Baku (in settlement Balakhani); this well is dug by hand.

10th Century AD- Arabian traveler Abu-Dulaf visits and describes Absherons oil sources; and noted that there were two major sources – black and white oil. White oil was exported to Iran, Iraq and India as a valuble article

1960- OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) founded in Baghdad – Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran. *See end for current member countries.

1907- Shell (British) and Royal Dutch merged to form Royal Dutch Shell

1971- Libya, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iraq negotiate price increase from $2.55 to $3.45 per barrel

1990- August – Iraq invades Kuwait, UN embargo on Iraq

2009(Jan)- Gas exports to Europe greatly reduced as a dispute between Russia and Ukraine causes a halt to gas exports through the Ukraine

1979- (June) Blowout at Ixtoc 1 in the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico – brought under control in March 1980 – largest single oil spill

2010 (Apr 27)- Russia and Norway sign agreement resolving sovereignty of a portion of the Barents Sea that has been in dispute for more than 40 years. The area is believed to be highly prospective for oil and gas exploration

2009 (Dec 7 – 20) -Climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark – yielded very little results

2007(Apr 9) – GECF – Gas Exporting Countries Forum met in Qatar – a group of gas exporting countries countries led by Russia with plans to strengthen ties towards cooperation and stability in natural gas markets. – Possibly the start of an OPEC for gas? (Member countries are listed at the bottom of the page)

1959- Arab Oil Congress in Cairo – a gentlemans agreement for oil producing countries to have a greater influence on oil production and marketing.

1930- East Texas Oilfield discovered by Dad Joiner

1997- Qatar inaugurates the worlds first significant liquid natural gas (LNG) exporting facility

References are listed at the end of the summary. A search of keywords using a search engine will provide further information. Yourfeedbackregarding errors or omissions is welcome!

2010 (Nov 23)- Freeport LNG and MacQuarrie Bank plan to build LNG export facility in Texas with a capacity of 1.4Bcf/d to be operational in 2015 at a cost of $2Billion

2008(Nov 20) – Price of oil drops below $50/bbl (see July 11, 2008)

2010 (Feb 5) -Russia and Venezuela to jointly invest $20billion over 40 years to develop the Junin 6 Field in the Orinoco Basin

1967- Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd (later Suncor) began production of tar sands north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada – first commercial production of the largest oil resource in the world.

1980- Saudis bought out the balance of Aramco from US oil companies

1893- First well drilled in Los Angeles

1991- January – Gulf War – Operation Desert Storm, Kuwait oilfields set alight

2008(July 11) – Crude oil hits a record high over $147.27 per barrel on continued concern over supplies and the weak US dollar.

2010 (Oct 11)- Statoil and Talisman Energy buy $1.8Billion to acquire interests in the Eagle Ford Shale (liquids rich gas) in South Texas

1568- Under the direction of Englishmen Thomas Bannister and Jeffrey Duckett, Moscow Company agents visited Azerbaijan and wrote about Baku oil (the Moscow Company was founded in London in 1555).

1982 – Exxon shuts down Colony project in Colorado – intended to extract oil from immature oil shale

1863- J.D.Rockefeller founded an oil refining company in Cleveland

1902- Ida Tarbell begins campaign against the monopoly and questionable practices of the Standard Oil Trust – published a series of articles in McClures Magazine (1902-1904)

2003- (Aug 14) – Major electrical failure causes blackout in New York State and Ontario.

1908- Oil discovered in Persia, Anglo Persian Oil company formed (Later BP)

2011 (Apr 19) -A blow out in a shale gas well owned by Chesapeake Energy in Bradford County, north Pennsylvania ignites debate on the safety of hydraulic fracturing

1998- 50 year moratorium on mining and oil exploration in Antarctica approved

1836- For the first time, academician G.I. Gessi researched Absheron natural associated gas from a scientific point of view and defined its composition.

1816- Start of the US manufactured gas industry – the Gas Light Company of Baltimore

1979- Three Mile Island – Nuclear power plant accident

1999- Atlantic Richfield (Arco) acquired by BPAmoco

1857- Development of the kerosene lamp – provided clean burning light

2003- (Sept) – Mikhail Khodorkovsky, CEO of Yukos Oil Co (largest Russian oil company) arrested

347AD- Chinese reported to have drilled holes in ground using bamboo to extract oil

1986 – 87- Tanker War between Iran and Iraq – destroying oil tankers in Persian Gulf

2011 (Sept 20)- Husky Energy Inc authorise Liwan Gas

c100AD- Plutarch described oil bubbling from the ground near Kirkuk in present day Iraq

1998- Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve sold to Occidental Petroleum for $3.65 billion.

2002- (December) – National strike in Venezuela shuts down Venezuelan oil production

1975- First oil production from North Sea

1837- Autun, France – first attempts to mine oil shale, mines were closed in 1957

1878- First oil drilling at Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela

2005(Sept 19) – Natural gas (NYMEX) at all time high of $12.33US on fears of new storm approaching Gulf of Mexico.

1999- Panama Canal reverts to Panamanian authority

325BC- Alexander the Great used flaming torches of petroleum products to scare his enemies

2005(Sept 23) – Hurricane Rita strikes Gulf Coast

2005(Mar 23) – Explosion at BPs Texas City Refinery kills 15 people and injures 170 others

1973- Yom Kippur War – Egypt and Syria attacked Israel

1968- Oil discovered on North slope of Alaska

1915 -Teapot Dome Wyoming established as Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3

1964 – Start-up of Colony Oil Shale project in Colorado, USA – to extract oil from immature source rocks

2009 (1Q)- Declining natural gas prices in North America cause significant cut in gas drilling in both Canada and USA

1997- Kyoto Agreement proposed to limit greenhouse gases

2009 (Dec 14)- Exxon-Mobil offer $30 billion to acquire XTO Energy Inc (a significant shale gas exploiter in the United States)

1938- Oil discoverd in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia

2007(Oct 5) – Ecuador announces plan to increase royalties from 50% to 99% on oil and gas prices above a contractual benchmark

2003- Talisman sells holdings in Sudan following pressure from civil rights groups.

2009 (Oct 20)- Oil above US$80 per barrel – driven mainly by weakness in US dollar

2007(Jan 8) – Russia turns off flow of oil through Belarus to Eastern Europe on accusations that Belarus was illegally taking their oil.

History of the World Petroleum Industry (Key Dates)

1647- Turkish traveller Evliya Chelebi examines and thoroughly describes Baku oil fields while in Baku. According to his data, Baku oil brought 7000 tumans of annual income to Shahs treasury and was exported to Persia, Central Asia, Turkey and India.

2005(Mar 31) – Oil briefly exceeds $58 US per barrel on continued strong demand and concern over supply

1849- Abraham Gesner developed a method for distilling kerosene from crude oil

2005(June 23) – China State Oil Co offers $18.5 Billion for Unocal Corp, (offer withdrawn in August)

1998- BP announces plans to acquire Amoco for $48.2 billion

2007(Mar 27) – Venezuela deal with China National Petroleum Corp to export more oil to China instead of US.

2006(July 13) – Oil hits a record high of $78.40/bbl on New York Mercantile Exchange on supply and world political concerns – nuclear tensions in Iran and supply concerns in Iraq, Nigeria, Gulf of Mexico; missile testing by North Korea and flare ups between Israel and Lebanon.

2008(Jan 2) – WTI oil price briefly touches US$100 per barrel for the first time driven by supply concerns and the weak US dollar

2002- (December) – Chevron-Texaco planning LNG receiving facility on Gulf Coast (800Mmcf/d increasing to 1.6Bcf/d)

1938- Mexico nationalizes foreign oil companies, all assets placed under the control of Pemex

2002- (November) – Oil tanker Prestige sunk off NW coast of Spain

2003- (February) – BP to purchase 50% interest in TNK – the 4th largest Russian oil company

1910- Lakeview gusher blew out near Los Angeles, CA, reportedly at rates of 100,000BOPD with a total of 9,000,000 Bbls oil released before the well was brought under control

2007(May 31) – May LNG imports to USA highest ever at 3.1Bcf/d. Compared to 2006 average of 1.6Bcf/d.

1618- Itallian traveller Pietro Della Valle spoke about great amounts of black oil around Baku; it was cheap and brought lots of income to the shah every year.

1941 -An inclined (slanted) well to the depth of 2000 metres was drilled by drilling master Aga Neymatullas team with turbodrill method on Bayil settlement (near Baku).

1818- In southeastern Kentucky another salt well produced oil. It was known as the Beatty Well, named after the owner of the land on which it was drilled (Shepherd 1988). The site is on the banks of the South Fork of the Cumberland River, and the well produced upwards of 100 barrels/day according to some reports. By 1820, oil from this well was being shipped to Europe as well as several other southern states. Thus the Beatty Well seems to be the first drilled well which produced commercial oil in North America.*

2006(Dec 22) – Gazprom to buy half of the Sakhalin-2 project from Shell and partners for $7.45Billion – continuing Russian efforts to have more control over their industry.

1877- Rockerfeller controlled 90% of American refining

1979- Saddam Hussein becomes President of Iraq

2006(Jan 1) – Russia attempts to penalise the Ukraine by blocking gas sales – the effort failed after a few days.

1862- de Rochas of France patented the four stroke engine

2006(Sept) – Russia exerting nationalistic pressures on multi-national oil companies – Shell, Exxon and ConocoPhillips

1986- Chernobyl – Nuclear power plant accident

1814- One of the first wells that produced oil which was marketed was drilled near Marietta, Ohio, in 1814 (Hildreth 1833, p. 64). Well was actually drilled for salt water, the oil was a useless by-product which often spoiled the well. This Ohio well was almost 500 feet deep and produced about a barrel or so of oil per week, which was worth about 50 – 75 cents/gallon.*

2004(Jan 20) – Explosion at an LNG plant in Algeria halts oil production

1976- Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve, California opened for commercial production

2007(July 9) – StatOil and Norsk Hydro to merge

2005(Dec 13) – Natural gas price hits a record high of $15.65US/mmbtu in the United States

2004(Dec) – Renationalising of Russian oil industry continued with Rosneft acquiring the largest unit of OAO Yukos Oil Co. Yukos has been forced into bankruptcy due to non payment of taxes.

2004 – Oil production in UK sector of North Sea declined by 10% in 2004.

2010 (Oct 10)- China National Oil Corp (CNOC) to spend $2.2Billion to acquire an interest in the Eagle Ford Shale (liquids rich gas) in South Texas

2006(Dec 18) – Statoil and Norsk Hydro to merge to create a $92.3Billion enterprise.

1771- Academician Samuil Gmelin (1745-1774) visits Baku and confirms that white oil was sublimated for production of kerosene in Surakhani and describes the technique of wells oil production.

2010 (Oct 12)- USA lifts ban on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

1895- Invention of combustion engine

1924- Teapot Dome scandal – political manipulation in providing friends with the right to develop the US Naval Oil Reserves resulted in the resignation of the Secretary of the Interior (Albert Fall) and Secretary of the Navy (Edwin Denby).

1975- Venezuelan oil industry nationalised

1967- Six day War between Israel and the Arab world, Suez Canal closed

1825- First commercial natural gas production and use in Fredonia, New York – well drilled to 27 by William Aaron Hart, gas piped through hollow logs to adjacent houses

1803 -Offshore oil extraction reported in Bibi-Heybat Bay of the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan) from two hand-dug wells 18 and 30 meters away from the shoreline. The first offshore oil field ceased existence in 1825 when a huge storm ravaged all wells in the Caspian

2002- Conoco and Phillips merged to form ConocoPhillips.

1979- First significant coalbed methane drilling by Amoco in San Juan Basin, USA

1972- Iraq nationalizes Iraq Petroleum Concession

2011 (Mar 11)- A 9.0 earthquake offshore Japan created a tsunami that caused considerable damage to the Fukushima Nuclear plant 150 miles north of Tokyo – raising questions on the viability and safety of nuclear power

2009 (June)- Khurais oilfield in Saudi Arabia brought onstream – largest single oil development ever – expected production of 1.2MMBO, 315Mmcf/d Gas and 70mbbls NGLs per day

1980 Crude Oil Windfall Profits Act in United States included an unconventional gas tax credit provided tax credit when oil prices were low to reduce the chance of gas consumers switching to oil

1933- Saudi Arabia granted oil concessions to Standard of California – became California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc)

1916- Naval Oil Shale Reserves established in Colorado and Utah

1901- Spindletop gusher, blew out on January 10, 1901 near Beaumont in East Texas, drilled by Captain Anthony Lucas it heralded the birth of the Texas oil industry – Gulf and Texaco.

1991- November – Soviet Union collapses

1975 – Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) authorised in US – to store an emergency supply of oil in salt domes

2008 (Nov -June 2009)Global Recession a reality

2007(May 1) – Venezuela nationalizes part of oil industry by taking over operating control of oilfields operated by ConocoPhillips, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Statoil and Total.

2008(Nov 18) – Saudi supertanker hijacked off Somalia

2010 (July 15)- BP succeed in placing a cap to stop the leak on the Maconda exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico. Subsequently, 4.9 Million barrels of oil estimated to have leaked from the well

2010 (Nov 9)- Chevron Corp to buy Atlas Energy for US$4.3Billion to gain access to the Marcellus Shale play

1979-1981- Oil prices rise from $13.00 to $34.00

2005(July 7) – Terrorist attacks in London – 4 bombs – 3 planted on Underground, 1 on a London bus.

2005(Apr 4) – Chevron-Texaco offer to buy Unocal Corp for $16.4 Billion

1980- Iraq launches war against Iran

1781- Count Marko Voynovich (1750-1807), the chief of the Caspian expedition, finds the signs of oil and gas on the bottom of the Caspian Sea near the island Zhiloy (Chilov), near the Absheron peninsula. In 1781-1782 Voynovich M.I. charted a detailed map of Eastern part of the Caspian Sea.

1973- Arab oil embargo on oil exports to the US for siding with Israel in the Yom Kippur War – oil prices rise from $2.90 to $11.65.

2007(Mar) – European Union introduced new environmental regulations to reduce GHG emissions by 20% by 2020

2011 (Jul 12)- EIA estimates 2011 growth in US gas Production of 5.8% or an estimate of 65.39Bcf/day for a new record level of gas production in the United States. (Driven by the enormous growth in shale gas production)

1989- March – Exxon Valdez aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska

2010 (July 26)- Rupture in Enbridge oil pipeline leaks 19,500bbls oil into the Kalamazoo River, Michigan

1861- First recorded shipping of oil between countries – from Pennsylvania to London on the sailing ship Elizabeth Watts

1846- Baku the first ever well drilled with percussion tools to a depth of 21 metres for oil exploration

1979- Shah of Iran deposed, Ayatollah Khomeini takes power

1954- Anglo-Persian Oil Company renamed British Petroleum

1741-Director of English-Russian trading company Ioannas Hanway investigated condition of Baku oilfields. In 1754 he published Historical essay about English trade in Caspian Sea in London.

1949- First offshore oil drilling at Oil Rocks (Neft Dashlari) in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan eventually resulted in a city built on pylons

1912 -Land in California (Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills) as Naval Petroleum Reserves No. 1 & 2.

2011 (May 18)- BP and Conoco Phillips withdraw Denali Pipeline Application – proposal to build a pipeline to bring gas from Prudhoe Bay to southern or export markets

2007(Jan 8) – Venezuela planning to nationalise oil refineries

2008(Sept -Nov) –Global recession fears

2010 (Jan 13)- Apache Canada Ltd. to acquire 51 percent of Kitimat LNG Inc.s planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in British Columbia.

2002- Construction started on Bosphorus bypass pipeline bringing oil from Baku to the Mediterranean

2001- September 11th – Terrorist attacks on the United States

450BC -Herodotus described oil pits near Babylon

2002- (November) – UN weapons inspectors return to Iraq.

1879- Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb

1921 -First experiment of using seismic waves to image the subsrface – at Vines Branch in south central Oklahoma by William Haseman, Clarence Karcher, Irvine Perrine and Daniel Ohern

1905- Baku oilfields set on fire during Russian Revolution

1971- OPEC Countries begin nationalising oil assets. – Libya nationalizes BP concession

1857- Preston Barmore drilled two gaswells on Canadaway Creek near Fredonia, NY – used an 8 pound charge of gunpowder at a depth of 122 to frack the well – the first record of artificial fracturing

1987 -Naval Oil Shale Reserve transferred to the Ute Indians.

1910- US Congress authorised legislation to set aside land as Naval Petroleum Reserves.

2005(July 24) – Iran and Iraq sign a cooperative oil trading agreement

1857- First drilling of oil wells at Bend, northeast of Bucharest, on the Romanian side of the Carpathians.

1911- Break up of Standard Oil Trust orderd by Supreme Court*(See end for further detail)

1999- US Sanctions against Libya lifted

1955- Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal

2008(Apr 8) – BP and Conoco Phillips announce plans to develop an Alaska gas pipeline – in competition to the previously announced plan led by TranCanada Pipeline.

1979- November – Iran takes US hostages

1892- Standard Oil Company of Ohio broken up by Federal Regulators

1910 -First oil discovery in Mexico at Tampico on the Gulf Coast

2011 (Jul 14)- ConocoPhillips announces plans to split into two comp[anies – an E&P company and a refining/marketing company

1895- Extraction of bitumen from bituminous sand using hot water at Carpenteria, California

1739- Academician I.V. Veytbreht publishes the treatise About the oil, which contains much data about Absheron oil.

2004(Oct 25) – Oil at a record price of $55.67 US per barrel on concerns over high demand and possible supply disruptions in the Middle East and damage on the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Ivan .

8th Century AD- Baku people used ground impregnated with oil for heating because of absence of wood

2010 (Apr 20)- Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and fire while drilling BPs Macondo exploration well, in Gulf of Mexico, 11 workers killed and concern about a major environmental catastrophe along the Gulf Coast

9th Century AD- Arabian traveler Baladzori (Al-Belazuri Ahmed) describes in The Conquest of the countries that political and economic life on Absheron had been long connected with oil. (Published in English The origins of the Islamic state, by P.K. Hitti and F.C. Murgotten, v.1-2, N.Y.-L., 1916-1924).

2009 (Jan 19)- Oil price falls to $34 US per barrel

2005(Sept) – The 1770 km long Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan (BTJ or BTC) oil pipeline began operation at the Sangachal Oil Terminal in Baku. The second longest oil pipeline in the world after Russias Druzhba.

2008(July 23) – Alaska gives nod to TransCanada Pipeline to develop the Alaska Gas Pipeline.

12th Century AD- A unique medicinal oil from the Naftalan (Azerbaijan region), was used for curing various health problems. It was carried in wineskins through the territory of modern Georgia to the Black Sea shores and from there to other countries of the world.

1914-1918- World War I, the first conflict where control of oil supply really mattered – needed for tanks, ships and planes. British Forces captured Baghdad in 1917.

1931- Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger sucessfully identify presence of oil in a formation by measuring resistivity

1969- Santa Barbara oil spill, 6 miles offshore from Summerland, California. Created major backlash against industry.

2003(Dec 23) – Sour gas blow-out in Chongqing, SW China, kills 234 people

1978 Natural Gas Policy Act in United States provided incentives or de-controlled pricing for certain types of gas deemed to be high cost including Tight Gas

1801 -First coal powered steam engine

2006(Jun 23) – Anadarko Petroleum Corp offers US$21.1Billion for Kerr McGee Corp and Western Gas Resources Inc.

1939-1945- World War II – control of oil supply from Baku and Middle East played a huge role in the events of the war and the ultimate victory of the allies. Cutting off the oil supply considerably weakened Japan in the latter part of the war.

6th Century BC -The army of Kir II, first shah of Achaemenid Empire ( present – Iran), used Absheron oil in weapons of fire to invade castles and cities.(Note: much of the historic information relating to the early history in the Middle East has been provided by Mir-Yusif Mir-Babayev, Professor of Azerbaijan Technical University in Baku ).

2002- US threatens invasion of Iraq to stop development of WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction).

1872- Rockerfeller took over 22 of his competitors (The Cleveland Massacre) to increase Standard Oil share of market to 25%

2004(July) – US oil imports at a record 11.3MMBO per day

1951- Anglo Iranian Oil Company nationalized

2006(Aug 6) – BP to shut-in part of the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, Alaska to replace corroded pipelines, resulting in accusations of poor maintenance procedures.

2005(Mar 30) – Goldman Sachs suggest oil could spike to $105 US per barrel

1956- Suez Crisis – Britain, France and Israel attempted to regain control of Suez Canal

1870- J.D.Rockerfeller formed Standard Oil (Ohio).- controlled 10% of American oil refining

1906- Federal Government filed suit against Standard Oil under the Antitrust Act.

1273- Marco Polo recorded visiting the Persian city of Baku, on the shores of the Caspian Sea in modern Azerbaijan, he saw oil being collected from seeps for use in medicine and lighting

2009 (Sept 13)- Chevron announces plans to develop the Gorgon LNG Project at Barrow Island offshore Australia

1947- Kerr McGee brings in the first producing oil well on the Outer Continental Shelf off Louisiana

1936- Texaco took a 50% share in Casoc

1978- Amoco Cadiz runs aground off French Coast

2005(July 4) – First import of LNG to United Kingdom in 20 years as North Sea natural gas production declines

2005(Apr) – Gulf Gateway Energy Bridge Deepwater Port opened – the first offshore LNG receiving facility and the first new LNG regasification facility to be built in the USA in 20 years.

2011 (Jan 16) -BP signs deal with Rosneft to jointly explore for oil and gas in the South Kara Sea of the Russian Arctic

1959- Natural gas discovered in Groningen Field, Netherlands

1995- UN resolution to allow partial resumption of Iraq oil exports in oil for food deal.

1858- First oil well in North America at Oil Springs in Ontario, Canada

2005(Aug) – Chevron Corp acquisition of Unocal Corp finalised

1973 – Saudi Governement acquired a 25% interest in Aaramco

2006(Aug 18) – Mexico receives first shipment of Liquefied Natural Gas at its Altamira Terminal near Tampico in NE Mexico, LNG to be used for power generation.

2004- (Nov) George Bush re-elected President in USA

2003- (May 21) – Alan Greenspan acknowledges that the low level of natural gas supplies is a very serious problem in a Presentation to Congress Joint Economic Committee.

1807- Streets of London lit by coal oil

1934 – The first floating drilling rig reported in the Caspian Sea

2007(Nov 20) – WTI oil price futures hit a record close of $99.29US driven by supply concerns and weakness in the US dollar

1500s- Oil from seeps in the Carpathian Mountains in Poland was burned in street lamps to provide light in the Polish town of Krosno.

2010 (July 19)- Apache Corp to buy BPs Permain Basin, Egypt Western Desert and Canadian Upstream assets for $7 Billion

2008(Mar 18) – Venezuela announces plans to price more of its oil sales in Euros to protect against the drop in value of the US dollar

1933- The Texas Company introduced the first submersible drilling barge which was used in the estuaries (Lake Pelto) Louisiana

1988 – July 6- Explosion at Piper Alpha North Sea oil and gas production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. The explosion and resulting fire destroyed the platform, killing 167 men, with only 59 survivors. At the time of the disaster the platform accounted for approximately ten percent of North Sea oil and gas production, and was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact.

1666- Dutch sailor and traveller Jan Struys (he was taken prisoner in Iran and used to visit this place often with the merchant who owned him – he even drew the Caspian sea map) visited Azerbaijan and wrote in his work called Journey that there were wells built with stones inside and with white and black oil coming to the surface on Besh Barmag mountain (now – in Siazan region of Azerbaijan).

2010 (June 3)- EOG blowout of gas well in the Marcellus trend in Pennsylvania – reporting reflected some of the sensitivity around oil and gas activity following the BP blowout (see April 20)

1637- Baku oil is marked as a terrible weapon by ignition in a List of gun stocks of Moscow state.

2007(Mar 23) – Oil prices rise on tension over Iran capture of 15 British soldiers reportedly strayed into Iranian waters. Released on 4th April resulting in oil prices falling back.

1984- Gulf Oil acquired by Chevron after a bidding war with Arco

1859- Col. Edwin Drake struck oil 69ft below the surface of the ground in Titusville, Pennsylvania.

1944- Casoc became Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company)

2011 (Jan -Apr)- Unrest in various countries of the Arab world creates concern over energy supply and boosts oil prices

1942- Japan invaded Indonesia for access to their oil reserves

2009 (July 24)- California Government approves new offshore oil lease off Santa Barbara – see 1969

1885- Oil discovered in Sumatra by Royal Dutch

1948- Ghawar Field discovered in Saudi Arabia – the largest conventional oil field in the world (about 80 billion barrels)

2011 (Feb 1)- Exxon-Mobil and partners report driling a horizontal well with a reach of 7.13miles (11425metres) to the Odoptu Field offshore Sakhalin Island. The actual measured depth of the well was reported as 12,345metres.

1956- Oil discovered in Algeria and Nigeria

1796 -Marshal von Frederick Bibershtein (1768-1826) notes that the Absheron peninsula contains an inexhaustible stock of oil.

2003- US Senate rejects proposal to allow oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ( ANWR ) in northern Alaska

2010 (Apr 15)- Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted – disrupting air travel in Europe and across the Atlantic – problem lasted about one week.

2005(Aug 29) – Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast of the US with devastating results

1999- Total Fina and Elf Aquitaine agree to merge

1998- Exxon to acquire Mobil for $75.4 billion

1974- (March) Arab oil embargo on oil exports to the US lifted

1999- Y2K has the world holding its breath – quickly turns to a yawn!

2005(Dec 13) – Conoco Philips and Burlington Resources to merge in a deal valued at $35.6US Billion

2010 (June 16)- BP suspends dividend payments and sets aside $20Billion to cover damage claims from the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico

2005(Aug 29) – Oil reaches $70.80 US per Bbl.

1723 -Peter the Great (1672-1725) issues special decrees about the order of oil extraction; in a letter to major-general Michael Matyushkin, who governed Baku, he demanded sending one thousand poods of white oil or as much as possible, and to look for increase in production. Persian campaign (1722-1723) of Peter I resulted in Baku and Derbent (on the East coast of Caspian) being annexed to Russia.

2003- (March 19-20) -US led invasion of Iraq begins – to overthrow Saddam Hussein and prevent the spread of WMDs.

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