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Oil and gas in Oklahoma
Oil and gas in Oklahoma
Jul 27th 2006
From The Economist print edition
EVER since oil was discovered in Red Fork, near Tulsa, in 1901, refineries have formed a proud part of the city's skyline. But the peak of the oil production that turned cowboys into millionaires, and a dusty desert town into a place almost as cosmopolitan as New York, occurred almost 80 years ago. In 1927, Oklahoma produced 278m barrels of crude oil. In contrast, last year, the state produced only 60.7m barrels—the lowest figure since 1912.
The last boom in the roller-coaster that is the oil industry came in 1981, and six years later the bust was definitive. Between 1981 and 1995, eight refineries in Oklahoma closed and half the industry's workers left. Overnight, oilmen with mansions and private airstrips became paupers living in mobile homes. Since 1984, oil production has dropped every year.
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