Texas oil & gas through the years
The Texas Oil & Gas Association, or TXOGA, has been a part of the industry for 100 years. Here’s a look at some of the key events in the industry over the past 153 years.
Sept. 12, 1866 – Lyne Taliaferro Barret completed the first crude oil well in Texas in Nacogdoches County April 3, 1891 — Texas Legislature forms the Railroad Commission of Texas to regulate the oil and natural gas industry Jan. 10, 1901 – Spindletop oil well discovery near Beaumont ushers the United States into a “golden age of oil” October 1917 — The Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma to represent the industry 1919 – TXOGA founded as the Texas Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, a state-level affiliate of the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association November 1919 — Railroad Commission adopts first Statewide Rule regulating the oil and gas industry June 1920 – First oil well in the Permian Basin put into production in Mitchell County May 28, 1923 – Santa Rita No. 1, located on University of Texas lands in Reagan County, came online, proving that oil existed in the region – a development that transformed University of Texas and Texas A&M who shared in the university's land royalties 1929 – The first horizontal oil well drilled near the Reagan County town of Texon 1947 – Birth of modern hydraulic fracturing 1959 — Then-Zapata Offshore Co.
President George H.W. Bush becomes a member of the Texas Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association 1975 – Congress implements a crude oil export ban implemented in the aftermath of the Arab Oil Embargo 1980s – Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. experiments with hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells in the Barnett Shale near Fort Worth 1997 – Texas Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association changes its name to the Texas Oil & Gas Association 2006 – Shale boom takes off October 2008 – Discovery of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas 2011 – U.S. becomes world's largest natural gas producer December 2015 – Congress lifts the crude oil export ban December 2015 — First U.S. crude oil export shipment in more than 40 years leaves from the Port of Corpus Christi 2018 – U.S. becomes world's largest crude oil producer December 2018 – First shipment of liquefied natural gas exported from Texas leaves from the Port of Corpus Christi 2018 – U.S. exports of total petroleum products set a record high in 2018, reaching an annual average of 5.6 million barrels per day (b/d) 2019 – The Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin unveils its expanded “Texas Oil and Gas Exhibit” 2019 – Texas Gulf Coast exports more crude oil than it imports for the first time