Did you know Pennsylvania is the birthplace of commercial oil production?
(WHTM) – When thinking about Pennsylvania, you may think of chocolate, steel, Philly sports fans, and coal, but what about oil?
The title “Oil State” belongs to Pennsylvania, not because the Keystone State leads in oil production but because it was the birthplace of oil production.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Edwin L. Drake in 1859 drilled the first well intended to produce oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania.
Titusville is in Crawford County with a population of around 5,224.
Pennsylvania would be the only state to produce oil from 1859 to 1874 and would lead the United States in oil production from 1859 to 1913 when California would pass the Keystone State.
How much coal has been mined in Pennsylvania’s history?
In 2023, Pennsylvania produced around 6.4K million barrels of oil (Mbbl) which ranked them 16th in the United States.
According to Wise Voter, the top ten states in oil production in 2023 were:
Texas (1.7M Mbbl)
New Mexico (459.8K Mbbl)
North Dakota (393.8K Mbbl)
Alaska (159.6K Mbbl)
Colorado (144.6K Mbbl)
Oklahoma (143.1K Mbbl)
California (130.6K Mbbl)
Wyoming (84.8K Mbbl)
Utah (36.3K Mbbl)
Louisiana (32.8K Mbbl)
From 1859 through 2022, Pennsylvania has produced 1,450,545,000 barrels of oil, according to Boston University. The top ten states/regions in oil production over that time are:
Texas (79,710,612,000 barrels)
California (29,477,655,000 barrels)
Federal offshore (25,537,890,000 barrels)
Alaska (19,264,971,000 barrels)
Louisiana (18,153,792,000 barrels)
Oklahoma (16,878,170,000 barrels)
Wyoming (8,152,770,000 barrels)
New Mexico (7,340,198,000 barrels)
Kansas (6,857,828,000 barrels)
North Dakota (6,369,660,000 barrels)
Although Pennsylvania isn’t the leader in oil production, the state still ranks second in natural gas producers with 7.53 trillion cubic feet.
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