2015 Event The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to reduce greenhouse gases from oil and gas operations, proposing a rule to cut methane emissions from these sources by 40 to 45 percent of 2012 baseline levels over the next 10 years 2015 Event Oil spill cleanup continues at Refugio State Beach in California after a pipeline burst two days ago; about 21,000 gallons of oil have been released into the ocean and 105,000 gallons on land 2015 Event U.S. President Barack Obama vetoes the Keystone XL project, which would extend the existing Keystone pipeline and connect Canadian oil directly to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries; environmentalists claim the pipeline extension will add to climate change 2015 Event The International Energy Agency estimates that oil prices will remain relatively low for the next five years, potentially dipping this year to an average of $55/barrel before increasing to about $73/barrel by the year 2020 2014 Event The E.U. extends sanctions against Russia by banning oil and gas exploration, cruise ship activity, and investment in Russian-annexed Crimea, the annexation is considered illegitimate by E.U. member nations 2014 Event New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces a ban of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking; the technique, used to extract natural gas and oil, requires injection of chemicals, sand and water at high pressure underground, posing environmental concerns 2014 Event Oil prices fall to $69/barrel after an OPEC decision to continue current oil production levels despite pressure from non-OPEC oil producing countries seeking higher prices 2014 Event Six people are arrested in Taiwan for selling contaminated lard products to restaurants, manufacturers and food suppliers; the 'lard' included discarded kitchen oil and leather manufacturing grease 2013 Event A controversial bill passes in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies; the bill regulates the distribution of royalties generated from oil exploration, with 75% of funds directed to education only 25% of the funds going to health 2013 Event Scientists in Spain publish a study in the 'New England Journal of Medicine' that claims a Mediterranean diets, high in olive oil, nuts, fish and fresh fruits, reduce the risk of heart disease 2012 Event Vietnamese police break up anti-China protests over oil and gas claims in the disputed territorial waters of the South China Sea 2012 Event A large crude deposit of oil is found by Permex, Mexico's state-owned oil company, in the northern state of Tamaulipas; deposits could contain 250 - 400 million barrels of oil 2012 Event An estimated 90 - 115 people die when an oil tanker in Okobge, Rivers State Nigeria crashes and explodes 2012 Event Argentina's Senate passes President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's bill to nationalize 51% of oil company YPF with overwhelming majority 2012 Event Jose Garc�a-Margallo y Marfil, Spain's foreign minister, attacks Argentina's decision to nationalize the Argentine oil company YPF 2012 Event Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina, introduces a bill to nationalize 51% of YPF, the Argentine oil company, to Congress 2012 Event As part of a continued tightening on world sanctions on Iran, a Chinese company that insures ships will stop indemnifying tankers carrying Iranian oil 2012 Event London-based Tullow Oil discovers oil in Kenya 2012 Event Responding to Iran's nuclear program, more sanctions are imposed upon Iran's banking and oil industries by the European Union 2011 Event If Western nations impose more sanctions, Iran threatens to close down the key oil route of the Strait of Hormuz 2011 Event In Washington, D.C., thousands protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project, which would carry Alberta oil sands crude through six U.S. states to Gulf Coast refineries 2011 Event The oil spill from MV Rena, the ship stranded off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, becomes the country's worst environmental disaster 2011 Event Off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, the MV Rena container ship runs aground, causing a large oil spill and affecting wildlife in the Bay of Plenty 2011 Event BP announces plans to begin drilling for oil off the coast of Libya 2011 Event Oil prices hit $93 per barrel, a four-month low 2011 Event A German naval mine from World War II is discovered and dismantled by BP; removing the bomb avoided potential closure of 16 oil fields 2011 Event A record $79 million auction price is paid for Chinese contemporary artist Zhang Xiaogang's 1988 'Forever Lasting Love' three-panel oil painting 2011 Event WikiLeaks cables claiming Saudi Arabia has exaggerated its crude oil reserves by 40% is published by The Guardian 2010 Event Ghana begins pumping oil after its discovery of an offshore oil field three years ago 2010 Event A substantially large oil field that is estimated to contain between 8 and 15 billion barrels, is discovered off the coast of Brazil 2010 Event BP claims that if the ban on offshore drilling permits continues, it may not be able to pay compensation for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 2010 Event The U.S. Government estimates the Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico 2010 Event In volume, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill has overtaken Ixtoc I to become the worst oceanic oil spill in U.S. recorded history 2010 Event BP CEO Tony Hayward testifies before the U.S. about the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster at the Deepwater Horizon rig that has caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history 2010 Event In response to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, BP agrees to finance a $20 billion fund to compensate those whose livelihood has been damaged 2010 Event The Gulf of Mexico oil spill threatens sensitive marshes and wildlife along the Gulf Coast; Admiral Thad Allan is appointed to lead the Federal response to the spill 2010 Event The Deepwater Horizon oil spill reaches the Louisiana Coast; weather is projected to impede cleanup efforts 2010 Event Economic losses mount and class action lawsuits are filed as the U.S. Coast Guard plans a controlled burn to remove spilled oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster 2010 Event The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded off the coast of Louisiana two days ago, sinks; the wreck is leading crude oil and diesel at an alarming rate 2010 Event BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico 2010 Event Shen Neng 1, a Chinese coal ship, is reported to be leaking oil after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland, Australia 2009 Event Pirates from Somalia capture the Maran Centaurus, a Greek-owned oil tanker, off the coast of Somalia 2009 Event Oil giant Dutch Shell warns its outlook remains uncertain after reporting its quarterly profit fell by 73% 2008 Event Oil reaches $100 per barrel for the first time 2004 Death "Paul ""Red"" Adair", Oil well fire expert, Hellfighters, dies at 88 2000 Death Michaela Odone, creative mother, ispired the movie Lorenzo's Oil, dies at 60 1995 Death J Howard Smith Oil Tycoon, dies 1995 Death Mehdi Bazargan, director Iranian oil corp/premier (1979), dies at 86 1994 Death Woodrow "Woody" Strode, U.S. rugby player/black cowboy actor (Oil), dies 1994 Event Oil tank/airship crash at Bosporus (huge fire/15+ killed) 1993 Event U.N. authorizes worldwide oil embargo against Haiti 1992 Event Mobil Oil tug with 12,000 gallons of oil run aground in Arthur Kill 1991 Event Exxon pays $1-billion dollars in fines and cleanup of Valdez oil spill 1991 Event Iraq continues to explode oil fields in Kuwait 1991 Event World's largest oil spill, caused by embattled Iraqi forces in Kuwait 1990 Event Oil hits a record $40.42 per barrel 1990 Event Hussein's Revolutionary Day speech claims Kuwait stole oil from Iraq 1990 Event Former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood ordered to help clean up Prince William Sound and pay $50,000 in restitution for 1989 oil spill 1990 Event Anchorage jury finds Captain Hazelwood innocent of Valdez oil spill 1990 Event Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood goes on trial due to oil spill 1989 Event Worst U.S. oil spill, Exxon's Valdez spills 11.3 mil gallons off Alaska 1989 Event Exxon Houston runs aground in Hawaii, spills 117,000 gallons of oil 1988 Event Tug hits oil barge, spreads 231,000 gal on 300 mi of WA and BC coast 1988 Event North Sea oil platform Piper Alpha explodes, 166 die 1988 Event Barge sinks near Anacortes, WA, spills 70,000 gallons of oil 1988 Event Ashland Oil storage tank spills 3.8 million gallons, Penn 1987 Event Dona Paz ferry sinks after crash with oil tanker Vector, 4386 die 1987 Event U.S. warships destroy 2 Iranian oil platforms in Persian Gulf 1986 Event OPEC lowers oil production 20% 1986 Event World oil prices dip below $10 a barrel 1985 Event Exploratory well at Ranger Tx, explodes spilling 6.3 m gallons of oil 1984 Event Puerto Rican tanker, San Francisco explodes spilling 2 million gallons of oil as ship caught fire 1984 Event Triangle Oil Corp, above-ground storage tank at Jacksonville Fla, spills 2.5 m gallons of oil burned after lightning sparked a fire 1984 Event Alvenus tanker at Cameron La, spills 2.8 million gallons of oil 1984 Event Mobil oil tanker spills 200,000 gallons into Columbia River 1984 Event Oil fire in Cubatao Brazil kills 500 1983 Event OPEC cut oil prices for 1st time in 23 years 1982 Event Arkas tanker at Montz La, spills 1.47 million gallons of oil 1981 Event Olympic Glory tanker at Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision 1980 Event Georgia tanker at Pilottown La, spills 1.3 million gallons of oil after an anchor chain caused a ship to leak 1980 Event Dutch 2nd Chamber joins oil boycott of South Africa 1980 Event ANC sets fire to Sasol oil installations in South Africa 1980 Event Oil tanker explosion off Pilos, Greece, causes 37-million-gallon spill 1979 Event President Carter announces immediate halt to all imports of Iranian oil 1979 Event U.S. halts Iranian oil imports and freezes Iranian assets 1979 Event Tanker Burmah Agate off Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 10.7 m gallons of oil, in US's worst oil spill disaster 1979 Event 2 supertankers collide off Tobago - 260,000 TONS of oil spill 1979 Event OPEC raises oil prices 24 percent 1979 Event Ixtoc I rig in Gulf of Mexico blows; 3 million bbl of oil spilled, world's worst oil spillage 1979 Event 512 die as oil tanker Bantry Bay blows up 1978 Event OPEC raises oil prices 18% 1978 Event Iranian oil workers go on strike 1978 Event Amoco Cadiz tanker spills 1.6 mil gallons of oil off French coast 1978 Event Amoco Cadiz spills 223,000 tons of crude oil off French coast 1977 Event 1st oil through the TransAlaska Pipeline System reach Valdez, Alaska 1977 Event Oil enters Trans-Alaska pipeline exits 38 days later at Valdez 1977 Event Trans Alaska oil pipeline completed 1977 Event Oil tanker explosion west of Honolulu spills 31 million gallons 1976 Event Liberian tanker stranded at Nantucket, 180,000 barrels oil in sea 1976 Death J Paul Getty, oil magnate/billionaire, dies at 83 in London 1976 Death Jean Paul Getty, U.S. oil magnate/billionaire, dies at 83 1976 Event Oil tanker Urqui Ola explodes off Spanish coast 1976 Event Venezuela nationalizes oil fields 1975 Event 1st oil pumped from North Sea oilfield 1974 Event OPEC ends oil boycott against Netherlands 1974 Event Most Arab oil producing nations end embargo against US 1974 Event Dutch speed limit set at 100km due to oil crisis 1973 Event 6 Persian Gulf nations double their oil prices 1973 Event OPEC oil embargo begins 1973 Event 5-mo oil embargo by Arab states against U.S. and Netherlands begins 1973 Event Arabs decrease oil production 1971 Event Algeria nationalizes French oil companies 1969 Event Peru nationalizes U.S. oil interests 1968 Event Government seizes oil fields in Peru 1968 Event London Bridge is sold to U.S. oil company to be erected in Arizona 1967 Event Oil tanker Torrey Canyon hits a rock and spills oil 1965 Event Indonesia nationalizes all foreign oil companies 1962 Death Enrico Mattei, Italian oil magnate, dies at 58 1960 Event Oil pipe line from Rotterdam-Ruhrgebied opens 1960 Event Cuba buys oil from U.S.S.R. 1960 Event Oil pipeline from Rotterdam to Ruhrgebied opens 1959 Birthday [Dennis Ray] "Oil Can" Boyd, baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox 1957 Event Passenger train and oil train crash in Gambar West Pakistan, 300 die 1957 Event Trans-Iranian oil pipe line finished 1955 Event British troops occupy Saudi-Arabic oil field at Boeraimi 1955 Event 1st seagoing oil drill rig placed in service 1953 Event President Eisenhower signs Offshore Oil Bill 1952 Event Oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Banias completed 1951 Event Persian troops occupies oil refinery at Abadan 1951 Event Great Britain and Iraq sign new oil contract 1951 Event Persian army takes over nationalized oil installations 1951 Event Persia nationalizes Anglo-Iranian Oil Company 1947 Birthday Michael Huffington, born in Dallas, Texas, U.S. oil millionaire, Representative-R-California, 1992 - 1994 1945 Event U.S. wartime rationing of gasoline and fuel oil ends 1942 Event Allied assault on oil installations of Bula Ceram 1942 Event Japanese sub fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, California 1942 Event German submarines attack Aruba oil refinery 1942 Event German U-boat shells at Antillian oil refinery 1942 Event Japanese parachutists land near oil center Palembang Sumatra 1942 Event Japanese troops land at oil center Balikpapan in Borneo 1941 Death Hugo Loudon, president-director (Royal Oil), dies at 81 1939 Event Oil refinery fire kills 500 and destroys Lagunillas, Venezuela 1939 Death Henri W A Deterding, Dutch oil magnate (Royal Oil, Shell), dies at 72 1938 Event Mexico takes control of foreign-owned oil properties 1938 Event President Cardena of Mexico nationalizes U.S. and British oil companies 1937 Event Mexico nationalizes oil 1935 Event Oil pipeline Iraq-Mediterranean goes into use 1934 Birthday Gordon Getty, born in San Francisco, California, fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, sold Getty Oil to Texaco, became classical music composer, contributes to the San Francisco Opera 1932 Birthday J. P. Getty, US/British oil magnate/billionaire, Getty Oil 1932 Event Oil tanker Cymbeline explodes in Montreal, Canada 1932 Birthday Graham Arnold, born in England, artist, founder of Brotherhood of Ruralists, other members include Jann Haworth, Sir Peter Blake, worked with oil and mixed media, realistic and surrealistic elements 1927 Event U.S. and Mexico battle over oil interests 1925 Birthday Marvin Davis, Newark, New Jersey, CEO, Davis Oil Company 1923 Event Mexico and U.S. reaches accord over oil concession of 1917 1922 Event Geological survey says U.S. oil supply would be depleted in 20 years 1918 Event Oil refinery on Curacao opens 1918 Event Socony 200, 1st concrete barge in U.S., launched to carry oil, New York 1918 Event King Oil/Shell refinery on Curacao officially opens 1915 Birthday Nora Dunfee, actress, Forrest Gump, Lorenzo's Oil 1915 Birthday Red Adair, oilman, fought oil fires in Kuwait 1915 Event Bataafsche Petroleum Me begins oil extraction of Maracaibo 1914 Event Oil discovered in Lake of Maracaibo 1914 Birthday Alastair Down, CEO, Burmah Oil 1911 Event Supreme Court dissolves Standard Oil with the Sherman Antitrust Act 1909 Event Anglo-Persian Oil Company forms in London 1907 Birthday Paul Mellon, U.S., oil magnate/president, Washington National Gallery of Art 1907 Event Royal Oil and Shell merge to form British Petroleum (BP) 1906 Birthday John D. Rockefeller, billionaire philanthropist, oil 1904 Birthday Enrico Mattei, Italian oil magnate 1902 Event Texas Oil Company, Texaco, forms 1901 Event Oil discovered in Texas 1900 Death Jean B A Kessler, director of oil on Dutch Indies, dies at 46 1892 Birthday J Paul Getty, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, oil magnate, Getty Oil 1892 Event Oil City and Titusville Penn, destroyed by oil tank explosion; 130 die 1889 Birthday H. L. Hunt, American Businessman, Texas oil multi-millionaire 1882 Event Because of anti-monopoly laws, Standard Oil is organized as a trust 1880 Event A P Abourne patents a process for refining coconut oil 1870 Event John D Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil 1868 Event John D. Rockefeller begins anti oil war 1866 Birthday Henri WA Deterding, Dutch oil magnate, Royal Oil, Shell 1865 Event 1st U.S. underground pipeline for carrying oil is laid in Pennsylvania 1860 Birthday Hugo Loudon, CEO, Royal Dutch Oil Shell 1859 Event 1st successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Penn by Edwin Drake 1857 Birthday Ida Tarbell, muckraker, Standard Oil was very unhappy 1854 Event Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co, 1st in U.S., incorporated in New York City 1853 Birthday Jean B A Kessler, director of oil on Dutch Indies 1849 Event M Jolly-Bellin discovers dry-cleaning, he accidentally upset lamp containing turpentine and oil on his clothing and sees cleaning effect 1839 Birthday John D. Rockefeller, U.S. capitalist and founder of Standard Oil 1819 Birthday Edwin Drake, drilled 1st productive U.S. oil well
