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Mid-continent Oil FieldThe Mid-continent Oil Field in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, was discovered and exploited during the first half of the 20th century. History The first commercially successful oil well drilled in what was to be called the Mid-continent Oil Field was the Norman No. 1 near Paola, Kansas, on November 28, 1892. The successes that followed of the Nellie Johnstone No. 1 (Bartlesville, Oklahoma) in 1897, Spindletop (Texas) in 1901, and the Ida Glenn No. 1 (Glenn Pool, Oklahoma) in 1905, demonstrated the existence of a large oil field in the central and southwestern United States. It became known as the Mid-continent Oil Field. Continued drilling found many other oil fields and pools within the Mid-continent, both large and small. Historically this area has produced more oil than any other field in the United States, and until the discovery of oil in the Middle East, was the largest known field in the world. The Texas Railroad Commission estimates that the Texas reserves alone were 190 billion barrels of oil including the little more that 60 billion already produced (a barrel equals 42 gallons or almost 149 liters). Laws in the early days gave the oil flowing from the well-head to the owners of the well, prompting nearby property owners and lease holders to drill as many wells as possible to insure they received the profits for the oil under their land. This lead to rapid depletion of the resources and the immediate fall of oil prices. Also, the resulting influx of thousands of oil field workers lead to wild growth of nearby boom towns and the lawlessness that accompanied them. The states eventually succeeded in regulating the industry and passing laws for the equitable distribution of oil royalties. Because of this early uncontrolled exploitation, much of the reserves in the Mid-continent have been depleted. Oil operators, in addition to continued exploration, use a variety of techniques to increase production, including deep wells, injection wells, etc. Natural gas, which in the early days was vented to the atmosphere or burned off, now accounts for a large percentage of the exploration efforts and profitability of the petroleum industry in the Mid-continent. Proven oil reserves - Arkansas - 49 million barrels (ranked 19th in the U.S.).
- Louisiana - 501 million barrels (ranked 7th).
- Kansas - 237 million barrels (ranked 11th).
- New Mexico - 710 million barrels (ranked 4th).
- Oklahoma - 598 million barrels (ranked 6th).
- Texas - 5,015 million barrels (ranked 1st).
Historic oil fields within the Mid-continent - Corsicana, 1896, Texas, plus 44 million barrels (little reserve remaining.
- Bartlesville, 1897, Nellie Johnstone No. 1, Oklahoma, plus 1.6 billion barrels (in decline).
- Burbank (Osage), 1897, Oklahoma, plus 1 billion barrels (still active).
- Spindletop, 1901, Texas, plus 150 million barrels (little reserve remaining).
- Glenn Pool, 1905, Ida Glenn No. 1, Oklahoma, 325 million barrels (little reserve remaining).
- Cushing, 1912, Oklahoma.
- Healdton, 1913, Franklin No. 1, Oklahoma.
- Greater Seminole, 1926, Oklahoma, plus 200 million barrels.
- McCamey, 1928, Baker No. 1., Texas.
- Oklahoma City, No. 1 Discovery Well, 1928, Oklahoma (The Mary Sudik No. 1, "Wild Mary Sudik", gusher did not blow until March 25, 1930—she sprayed an estimated 3,000 barrels an hour for the next 11 days).
- East Texas, 1930, Bradford No. 3, Texas.
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