Anthony Francis Lucas

Anthony Francis Lucas

Anthony Francis Lucas (born Antun Lučić ; born September 9, 1855 in Split , † September 2, 1921 in Washington, DC ) was a Croatian - American oil explorer . Together with Pattillo Higgins he organized a drilling for oil near Beaumont (Texas) , which became known as Spindletop .

Life

Origin and education

Lucas was born into a family of shipbuilders in Split, Croatia (then Austria-Hungary ).

At the age of twenty he graduated from the Technical University of Graz ( Austria ) and became an engineer. After completing his training at the Austrian Naval School, he worked in Pula and Rijeka and became a lieutenant at sea.

First years in the USA

In 1879, Lucas traveled to Saginaw , Michigan with his uncle . There he settled down and changed his name to Anthony Francis Lucas. He received his naturalization papers on May 9, 1885 in Norfolk , Virginia . He married Caroline Weed Fitzgerald. They moved to Washington, DC with their son Anthony Fitzgerald Lucas in 1887. Lucas worked in the timber industry. Later prospectus it for gold and salt in Colorado and Louisiana .

In 1893, Lucas began salt exploration in Louisiana on Petite Anse ( Avery Island ) for a New Orleans company . He worked in other places (Grand Cote, Anse la Butte and Belle Isle) until 1896 and acquired knowledge that led him to his idea - the possible connection between salt deposits and sulfur deposits in the tertiary sediment of the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Most geologists disagreed with Lucas' theory. However, when there was a result of exploration undertaken , he was the first expert in the field in the United States.

Success in the oil industry

Lucas Gusher at Spindletop on January 10, 1901

In 1899, Lucas became a drilling contractor and rented land from contractor Pattillo Higgins in south Beaumont , Texas . He believed that there was a large oil deposit under the Spindletop Hill elevation . He started drilling in 1900, but it was extremely difficult. A layer of sand was discovered at a depth of 60 meters. The newly developed, rotating hydraulic drill suffered an irreparable defect at a depth of about 175 meters. To solve the technical difficulties, he asked for assistance from John D. Rockefeller of the Standard Oil Company , which was granted to him.

After reaching a depth of 370 m on January 10, 1901 at 10:30 am, there was an eruption of natural gas , followed by a fountain of crude oil up to 60 m high. The outbreak lasted nine days.

The "Lucas Gusher" oil well, also known as "Lucas Spindletop Gusher", produced over 100,000 barrels (16,000 m ³ ) of oil per day. Over time, over 50,000 people viewed the drilling. The population of Beaumont rose from 8,000 to 60,000 in one year. As of 1902, 285 wells were put into operation on Spindletop Hill and over 600 oil companies were producing. Lucas only owned a tiny stake in a company he helped build. Because of this and for other reasons, he left the company at the end of 1901.

End of life

Lucas died in Washington, DC on September 2, 1921. He has often been incorrectly described as an Austrian , and sometimes as an Italian born in Trieste . His grave is in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC

meaning

The large amount of oil extracted from the Lucas Gusher oil well changed the economy in southeast Texas. The invention of the automobile increased the demand for oil to previously unimaginable dimensions. Houston became the center of the US oil industry .

Anthony Francis Lucas is considered one of the pioneers in the production of oil from reservoirs. He later worked as a consulting engineer in Romania , Russia, Mexico , Algeria, and the United States. A successful businessman and expert in mining, Lucas served as a lifelong chairman of the American Committee on Oil and Gas.

A large number of Lucas' inventions and his scientific and technical knowledge were used in early oil exploration and extractions . Some of them are:

• Improved methods for extracting underground salt deposits
• Surface survey to identify underground ore deposits
• Use of steam-powered hydraulic drilling rigs
• Construction and application of check valves
• Constructions of blowout preventers
• Borehole geophysics studies
• Invention of the eruption cross

Afterlife

In 1936 the American Institute for Geological and Metallurgical Investigations established the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal for development in the field of oil drilling .

A museum was built on Spindletop in honor of the exploration success. On a granite obelisk it says:

"On this spot on the tenth day of the twentieth century a new era in civilization began."

"A new era of civilization began in this place on the tenth day of the twentieth century."

A street and elementary school in Beaumont , Texas bear his name.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The International Who's Who in the World . 1912, p. 718 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
2. ^ ^{A b c} Adam S. Eterovich: Luchich Discovery of Oil at Spindletop, Texas. (No longer available online.) Croatianhistory.net, July 17, 2010, archived from the original on June 29, 2010 ; Retrieved November 19, 2015 . 
3. ^ Croatian americans , accessed November 8, 2015.
4. ^ The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 3, 2007 ; Retrieved November 19, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Texas History: Oil's Big Day. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 26, 2001 ; Retrieved November 19, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ^ Gusher Monument and Replica Oil Boomtown. Retrieved November 19, 2015 .