Approved Oil history

The Sinclair dinosaur exhibit drew large crowds once again at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition.

It wouldn’t be until 1938 that the first oil well would be drilled in Saudi Arabia, tapping into what would soon be identified as the largest source of oil in the world.

The University of Texas’ Center for American History has a rare 1951 recording of Humason’s recollections of that chance meeting.

Spectators in 1964 were amazed to see a barge of dinosaurs on the Hudson River.

Dismantling of “the great statue that stood in the Sinclair Pavilion of the New York World’s Fair, 1965.” Photo by Robert Walker, the New York Times Archives.

In July 1966, the Sinclair Dinoland exhibit visited Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota, where Andy and Doug Ward were photographed by their father David in front of Triceratops.

Finally, the current volatile era of oil prices began in 1970 with the Arab Oil Embargo, the formation of OPEC, the evolution of hydraulic fracturing, and lasts to today.

In 1972, IOCs and major independents accounted for 93% of the world’s production, while NOCs accounted for 7%.

After Baker International acquired Hughes Tool Company in 1987, Baker Hughes acquired the Eastman Christensen Company three years later.

The museum’s Old Post Office building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

In 1997, Mitchell Energy performed the first slickwater frack.

Special thanks to longtime AOGHS supporting member Chuck Gerringer for sharing a brief part of his father’s oilfield history in 2019.