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PENNZOIL: Our most famous motor oil honors the state where the Oil Age began. Prior to the invention of the automobile, most oil was burned in kerosene lamps. For the first 25 years of the era Pennsylvania was the world’s leading producer. (John D. Rockefeller coined America’s largest fortune by cornering the Pennsylvania market.) In 1891 the Quaker State produced enough oil to light the U.S. for 7 months. In 1937, when its production reached a second lower peak, Pennsylvania supplied enough to run the now motorized country for 7 days. Today the state’s oil could power the U.S. for only 3 hours. Although there are still 19,000 wells in Pennsylvania, collectively they produce a puny 6,900 barrels each day. In contrast, Saudi Arabia produces 8 million barrels—1,100 times as much—from just 1,400 wells.
From When Will the Joy Ride End? by Randy Udall, 1999
Update: 16,250 wells producing 4,027 barrels per day, averaging 0.2 barrels per day per well, Oil and Gas Journal, December 18, 2000
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