Energy · 1901

Spindletop gusher

Rotary drilling hits a Texas salt dome gushing 100,000 barrels a day.

The Lucas gusher at Spindletop in January 1901 used rotary drilling with mud and flowed at an estimated 100,000 barrels a day. It made oil cheap enough to fuel ships, trains and the coming automobile age.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Oil drilling 1859

What it led to 1

Offshore oil drilling 1947

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Crude oil price since 1861 Latest: 435 current US$ per m3 (2025) Source: Our World in Data

World primary energy by source Latest: 178k TWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Fossil fuel consumption Latest: 144k TWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data