Anthony Francis Lucas

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Anthony Francis Lucas bigraphy, stories - Croatian American engineer

Anthony Francis Lucas : biography

September 9, 1855 – September 2, 1921

Anthony Francis Lucas (born Antun Lučić, September 9, 1855; died September 2, 1921) was a Croatian-born oil explorer. With Pattillo Higgins he organized the drilling of an oil well near Beaumont, Texas that became known as Spindletop. This led to the widespread exploitation of oil and the start of the petroleum age.

Inventions and applications

A number of Lucas inventions and scientific or technical knowledge were used in early oil exploration and extraction, with most still being employed. Some are:

  • overhead method of mining in salt mines
  • surface exploration for underground mineral deposits
  • application of steam-driven, hydraulic-rotary drilling rig and of mud in oil well drilling
  • construction and application of back pressure valve
  • construction of blowout preventers
  • designing of well logs
  • invention of the Christmas tree oil well

Career

In 1893, Lucas started to work in salt exploration in Louisiana for a New Orleans company at Petite Anse (Avery Island). He worked at additional locations (Grand Cote, Anse la Butte and Belle Isle) until 1896, gaining experience that led to his promising of idea of the possible relationship between the salt deposits and the sulfur (most probably even crude oil) in the tertiary sediments of the Gulf Coast region. Most geologists disagreed with Lucas’ theory. However, as a result of explorations undertaken and his experience, he was the foremost expert on these formations in the United States.

Lucas Gusher

The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop. January 10, 1901 In 1899, Lucas became a drilling contractor and leased land south of Beaumont, Texas from the oil explorer Pattillo Higgins. He believed that the site — Spindletop Hill — was covering a vast pool of crude oil. Drilling began in late 1900 but was extremely difficult. At the depth of , a layer of sand was found. The new rotating hydraulic drill collapsed upon reaching a depth of approximately . Able to deal with the technical difficulties short on money, Lucas asked for help from John Rockefeller of Standard Oil. Rockefeller passed but not before persuading John H. Galey and James M. Guffey, associates of the Mellon family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to join the project.

After reaching the depth of , at 10:30 AM on January 10, 1901, natural gas erupted followed by a stream of crude oil reaching . The eruption lasted nine days and was stopped by one of Lucas’s devices.

The "Lucas Gusher," also called the "Lucas Spindletop Gusher," produced around of oil a day. The occasion was witnessed by about 50,000 spectators. The population of Beaumont mushroomed from 8,000 to 60,000 within a year. By 1902 as many as 285 wells were operating on Spindletop Hill and over 600 oil companies had been chartered. Lucas possessed just a tiny share in a company he helped to establish. Because of this and other reasons, he left the company at the end of 1901.

The 1901 oil gusher is mainly credited to the work and unending efforts of the Hamill brothers of East Texas. Al, Jim, and Curt Hamill used several different and innovative techniques to further the production of crude oil using the spindletop method , paid for by Lucas. Their efforts allowed Lucas to become a historical oil pioneer.

Notes

Category:1855 births Category:1921 deaths Category:People from Beaumont, Texas Category:Croatian emigrants to the United States Category:People from Split, Croatia Category:History of the petroleum industry in the United States Category:Croatian engineers Category:American people of Croatian descent Category:Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery Category:American petroleum geologists Category:Texas Oil Boom people

Legacy

The Lucas Gusher helped revolutionize world fuel use and transformed the economy of southeast Texas. It helped further the development of the automobile since significant amounts of energy were needed for fuel. The city of Houston become the national center of the oil industry, with the United States surpassing Russia as the world’s leading producer.