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| Tulsa Oil Field | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tulsa Oil Field |
| Settlement type | Oil field |
| Subdivision type | Country |
| Subdivision name | United States |
| Subdivision type1 | State |
| Subdivision name1 | Oklahoma |
| Subdivision type2 | County |
| Subdivision name2 | Tulsa County |
| Established title | Discovery |
| Established date | 1901 |
Tulsa Oil Field
The Tulsa Oil Field is a historically significant petroleum-producing area in northeastern Oklahoma near Tulsa, Oklahoma, central to the rise of the American Petroleum Industry and the growth of corporations such as Shell Oil Company, Phillips Petroleum Company, ConocoPhillips, Skelly Oil Company, and Gulf Oil. Its development influenced regional transportation nodes like the Union Station (Tulsa), corporate headquarters including Oneok, and financial institutions such as the Bank of Oklahoma.
The field lies within Tulsa County, Oklahoma and parts of adjacent counties, adjacent to the Arkansas River and containing urbanized tracts overlapping Downtown Tulsa, Midtown (Tulsa), and neighborhoods near Cherry Street (Tulsa). Early 20th-century discoveries catalyzed the influx of energy companies including Marland Oil Company, Continental Oil Company (Conoco), Standard Oil, Amoco Corporation, and entrepreneurs like William G. Skelly, Harry F. Sinclair, and E. W. Marland. The field contributed to infrastructure such as the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, the Tulsa International Airport, and regional railroads like the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway.
Discovery and early development began after 1901 exploration activities that followed oil finds in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and the Osage Nation; notable early wells attracted investors from New York City, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. The 1910s and 1920s saw rapid expansion by companies including Skelly Oil Company, Philips Petroleum Co., Continental Oil Company, Sinclair Oil Corporation, and Hess Corporation leading to corporate headquarters and refineries in Tulsa and neighborhoods near Riverside Drive (Tulsa). Industrial growth intertwined with civic projects led by figures such as Charles Page and institutions like the Philtower Building development. The Great Depression affected production and corporate consolidation involving Standard Oil of Indiana and mergers culminating in entities such as BP and Chevron Corporation through later 20th-century reorganizations. Postwar suburbanization and the oil booms of the 1970s and 1980s again reshaped ownership with involvement from Occidental Petroleum, Texaco, and ARCO.
The subsurface of the area is part of the structural and stratigraphic framework of the Anadarko Basin and the marginal features of the Arkoma Basin and overlies Paleozoic formations including the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian strata. Reservoir rocks include porous limestone and sandstone units analogous to those in the Bakken Formation and Eagle Ford Group in other basins, with traps controlled by faulting and anticlines related to tectonic stresses connected to the Ouachita Orogeny. Hydrocarbon charge history associates with organic-rich source intervals similar to those in the Woodford Shale and geochemical signatures studied by researchers from University of Tulsa, Oklahoma Geological Survey, and petroleum labs at Stanford University and Texas A&M University.
Primary production used vertical and later directional drilling techniques pioneered by regional service companies and manufacturers such as Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger, and local contractors. Midstream infrastructure included pipelines linking to refineries owned by Phillips 66, Marathon Petroleum, and Valero Energy, and storage terminals connected to the Keystone Pipeline corridor and regional rail served by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. Refining and petrochemical processing spurred ancillary facilities such as tank farms near Jenks, Oklahoma and terminals at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, while service-sector growth produced corporate campuses for ONE Gas and headquarters functions for Magellan Midstream Partners.
The field accelerated Tulsa’s development into an energy capital alongside civic institutions such as the Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum, University of Tulsa, and philanthropic ventures by oil magnates leading to construction projects like the Boston Avenue Methodist Church and the BOK Tower. Employment booms influenced migration from Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas and supported ancillary industries including steel producers like Nucor and builders such as Flintco. Wealth from royalties and corporate taxes funded municipal expansion, municipal bonds for infrastructure projects, and cultural institutions including the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.
Hydrocarbon production and urban encroachment generated environmental challenges addressed by agencies and organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, with cleanup projects coordinated under programs akin to the Superfund framework at contaminated sites. Concerns included soil contamination, produced water management, and legacy well plugging overseen by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and environmental consulting firms like AECOM and Tetra Tech. Remediation techniques employed bioremediation researched at University of Oklahoma and engineering controls implemented by firms including CH2M Hill.
Prominent early operators included William G. Skelly, E. W. Marland, Harry F. Sinclair, Val J. Richardson, and corporate entities such as Skelly Oil Company, Marland Oil Company, Sinclair Oil Corporation, Phillips Petroleum Company, and Continental Oil Company (Conoco). Notable wells and sites in the broader Tulsa region drew attention from industry publications and museums such as the Rush Springs Oil Field exhibits at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and archival records at the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum and Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Modern operators and service companies include Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy, XTO Energy, and field service support from Weatherford International and National Oilwell Varco.
Category:Oil fields in Oklahoma