Kansas Oil History began in the 1860s with G.W. Brown’s drilling of the state’s first oil well near Paola. The oil strike at Neodesha in 1892 led to the construction of a refinery in the area by John Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. There was a decline in Kansas oil production between 1905-1910. Then a major strike in 1915 with the drilling of Stapleton #1, the discovery oil well for the El Dorado Field, would change Kansas history forever.

This historic field, covering 34 square miles (22,320 acres), used scientific geology methods to pinpoint drilling locations. It became the largest producer among single fields in the United States. In one year alone (1918) the prolific El Dorado Field produced nearly 29 million barrels of oil. Proof that geology had a place in both the exploration and development of oil lands. This created a sudden and unprecedented demand for trained geologists to identify rock formations for oil deposits.

Geologists reinvestigated other areas in Kansas and in 1923 Carrie Oswald #1, the discovery oil well near Russell, opened up western Kansas production. Oil exploration in Southwestern Kansas opened up in 1927 with the drilling of Crawford #1 near Hugoton. Hugoton and Western Kansas became the state’s main concentration in natural gas production.