How Cushing Oklahoma Became An Oil Hub

In 1913, the Cushing-Drumright Oil field produced its first oil-well from the Bartlesville Sands zone producing about 500 barrels per day. The oil field had been discovered in 1912 when Thomas "Dry Hole" Slick drilled a well near Cushing, Oklahoma that yielded about 400 barrels of oil per day. Later, Thomas Slick earned the nickname "King of the Wildcatters." ^[1]

Thomas Slick, starting in 1904, became an expert at obtaining oil and gas leases in various parts of the country, but had never drilled a successful oil well and over time he became known as "Mad Tom" in addition to "Dry Hole" Slick. In 1912, Slick began securing leases near Cushing, Oklahoma and given his unfavorable track record, people were eager to be paid for leases where oil didn't likely exist. The Cushing newspaper at the time stated,

We would repeat that we believe it to be in the best interests of the individuals and all that these leases be granted…And just a word of warning. If you make a lease see that the lessees name is not left blank, but that the name of Thomas B. Slick is there.^[2]

This eagerness to ensure Thomas Slick's name was on the lease was not a strike against Thomas Slick but rather it was a testament to his character and integrity that if they were going to lease with someone, Thomas Slick was the preferred counterparty.

How Cushing Oklahoma Became An Oil Hub - YouTube Short

On March 12, 1912, on Frank M. Wheeler's farm, the Wheeler No. 1 became the first oil well to strike oil in the Cushing-Drumright field. After hitting oil, Slick quickly leased up every available rig in the area as well as hired every notary in the town so that he was able to continue leasing while keeping others from being able to do the same.^[3] Eventually, despite Slick's best efforts to conceal his discovery, a wave of oil exploration began in the area. Slick continued to experience success as well as others.

On November 30, 1913 the Prairie Oil and Gas Company brought a well online at a depth of 2,600 feet from a geologic zone called the Bartlesville Sand that started out producing around 500 barrels of oil per day. As more wells were drilled in the Bartlesville Sand geologic zone, it was not uncommon to have a well producing 1,000 to 5,000 barrels per day.^[4]

Source: History and Potentialities of the Cushing Oilfield Creek County, Okla. 1958.

By 1915, oil wells in Cushing peaked as they were already producing 300,000 barrels per day. By October 1916, 165 million barrels had been produced and by 1920, the field had produced 236 million barrels across the field which now spanned across 32 square miles. In 1919, the field produced 17 percent of the total United States supply of oil. ^[5]

Today, Cushing, Oklahoma is known as the "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" and the place where the settlement price for West Texas Intermediate(WTI) crude is determined each day. Prior to oil being discovered near Cushing, there was not a significant population in Cushing, however after 1913, the population exploded and by 1920, the town’s population was 6,284 residents. And nearby Drumright was also founded in 1913.

It bears mentioning that the Cushing-Drumright oil discovery arrived just as World War I was about to begin and it became a very timely discovery for America leading into the war.