Natural Gas – 100 Years Ago Today, September 2, 1922!
Tom Shepstone
Shepstone Management Company, Inc.
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Natural gas news from a hundred years ago offers great perspective for discussing one of the cleanest sources of energy available then and still today.
I thought it might be fun and illuminating to look back 100 years ago at what was happening with natural gas. It is eye opening, given all we’ve learned over the last century. There is, indeed, little new under the sun, as our stories repeatedly demonstrate. Read our 100-year old news items on the subjects of pipelines to Walla Walla, Louisiana exploration development and royalties to the Feds.
Walla Walla and Yakima Get Natural Gas
Walla Walla, named for the natives who resided along the Lewis and Clark trail, got natural gas in the 1920s:
02 Sep 1922, Sat The News-Review (Roseburg, Oregon) Newspapers.com
Whatever happened to the Pennsylvania-Pacific Oil Company that brought natural gas to Washington State, anyway? As usual, it’s not clear. Two companies, one named the Pennsylvania Oil Company and the other being the Pacific Oil Company, were issuing stock in early 1900s. Did they merge? Was there another company uniting the two names? Did they merge? There were oil companies galore at the time, indicating an exciting time for the natural gas and oil industry.
Meanwhile, Down in Louisiana They Explore for More
Several companies, including Standard Oil and Humble, now part of Exxon-Mobil, were exploring, developing and producing the stuff every community wanted:
02 Sep 1922, Sat The Shreveport Journal (Shreveport, Louisiana) Newspapers.com
Notice how much detail went into the natural gas stories at the time; every well was a story, in fact, because the resource was so valuable.
The Federal Government Starts Seeing the Rewards, As Well!
It wasn’t just consumers, drillers and investors who were benefiting. The government was also gaining new revenue, too.
02 Sep 1922, Sat The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com
That’s how it works with oil and natural gas development; it’s wins all around the table. Nothing much has changed a century later in that regard.
Regarding that last story, and royalties/taxes overall, the wider public may not fully appreciate just how impactful these revenue streams can be.
One can do a quick google image search on the brand new, world class high schools in tiny Williston and Watford City, North Dakota to appreciate the effects of hydrocarbon sourced financial bounty.
What parents, city leaders, would not want large, ongoing revenue streams to finance education, medical and housing needs?
The city of Pittsburgh could rival the wealthiest enclaves of the oil-rich Middle East by encouraging the development of the natgas that lies beneath its residents’ feet.