20 JULY 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® First American Oil Exports Adapted from Information by the American Oil & Gas Historical Society Not long after Edwin L. Drake spudded the first American oil well in Pennsylvania in 1859, wooden derricks sprang up all over Venango and Crawford counties. As demand for oil-refined kerosene for lamps grew around the world, moving the resource from oilfields launched the petroleum industry’s transportation infrastructure. “Doubt and distrust that preceded Drake’s successful venture suddenly fled before the common conviction that an oil well was the ‘open sesame’ to wealth,” reported Harpers New Monthly Magazine. After his historic discovery near Titusville, Drake bought all the 40-gallon whiskey barrels he could find to transport his oil on barges down the Allegheny River to refineries in Pittsburgh. In January 1860, oil sold for $20 a barrel, bringing investors including Drake’s investors at the Seneca Oil Company of New Haven, Connecticut, huge profits. By May 1861, more than 130 active wells were crammed into the area, producing 1288 barrels of oil a day. With the oversupply of oil came plummeting prices and instability, which proved to be the downfall of some of the newer petroleum companies. About this time, the veteran cargo brig, the Elizabeth Watts, was chartered by the successful import-export firm of Peter Wright & Sons. “She was a two-masted, square-rigged ship well-suited for the Atlantic cargo trade of the day,” noted J. & C.C. Morton, the Maine shipbuilding firm which constructed the brig in 1847. The Elizabeth Watts, along with Captain Charles Bryant, were secured for the purpose of transporting crude oil from Philadelphia to London, England. To reach the docks in Philadelphia, the oil would have to travel by land across Pennsylvania. The nearest railroad to Oil Creek’s prolific fields was a grueling trek on muddy roads clogged with wagons. The preferred railhead, owing to primitive road conditions, was the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad station at Miles Mills (now Union City), 20 miles north of Titusville. From Miles Mills, railroad flatcars stacked with barrels and pulled by a steam locomotive would make their way eastward to Philadelphia. Along the route, saltwater residue would eat at the barrels’ glue and cause leakage. The risk of fire or explosion was constant. Despite the hazards and difficulty, 901 barrels of Pennsylvania crude and 428 barrels of refined kerosene made the trip. Each 40-gallon barrel weighed over 60 pounds empty and 348 pounds once they were full. At the Port of Philadelphia, it took dockworkers ten days to load the oily cargo aboard the moored Elizabeth Watts. Sailors were not anxious to sign on with a ship that could explode and burn before casting off and sailing down the Delaware River toward the open sea. Captain Bryant reportedly had to “shanghai” his crew of seven. The cargo’s fumes were noxious, lurking, and explosive. No ship had ever crossed the Atlantic Ocean carrying such cargo. Whether by persuasion or trickery, Captain Bryant secured his crew, and the Elizabeth Watts departed the Philadelphia docks on November 19, 1861. It took 45 days for the ship to make the journey, arriving at London’s Victoria Dock on January 9, 1862, and it took 12 days to unload the 1329 barrels. A year later, Philadelphia would export 239,000 barrels of oil - still without the technology of railroad tank cars or tanker ships designed to transport crude oil. The Elizabeth Watts was about 96 feet long. The 224-ton brig made petroleum history during the Civil War. G&O Looking for Events? Click on this box in our online issue worldwidedrillingresource.com
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