Where is oil found in the US?

The first commercial oil well drilled in the United States is attributed to Edwin Drake, who drilled a well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. As uses and needs for oil both for heating and transportation grew, oil exploration and discoveries were made across the US. For many years Texas, Oklahoma, and California were the largest oil producing states. Then, as traditional fields began to decline, oil exploraton turned to other areas where technological advances were required to find and produce oil. The largest oil field discovered in the US is the North Slope of Alaska, which required Arctic drilling techniques and building of the 800 mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline . More recently, the Gulf of Mexico has contributed significantly to domestic oil production thanks to offshore exploration and deepwater production technologies. And even more recently, advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology have opened up significant quantities of shale oil reserves. The most prolific oil plays currently are the Eagle Ford in Texas, the Bakken in Montana and North Dakota, and the Spraberry in Texas and New Mexico (Permian Basin).

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