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The story of Hunt Oil Company spans much of the
oil industry's colorful history. From H.L.
Hunt's initial involvement in the Arkansas oil
boom of the 1920's to its global presence today,
Hunt Oil Company is known for discovering oil in
places where others never thought to look.
H.L. Hunt, the company's legendary founder, was
born on an Illinois farm in 1889 and left home
at 15. Working as a cowboy, a lumberjack and a
laborer, he saved enough money to buy a
plantation in Arkansas in 1911.
Although floods and an agricultural depression
caused this venture to fail, by 1921 H.L. Hunt
had recouped enough capital to start anew at the
same time that oil was discovered in El Dorado,
Arkansas. Quickly caught up in the "black gold"
fever of that moment of time, the 32-year-old
Hunt moved to El Dorado, where he began trading
oil and gas leases. Soon he began his own
drilling operations with increasing success.
In 1930, Hunt heard reports of a wildcat well
being drilled in East Texas, a region not
considered to be a prospective oil area.
Curious, he traveled to Rusk County, Texas,
where he met Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner, the
renowned wildcatter. Dad Joiner was then
drilling the Daisy Bradford No. 3, the rank
wildcat well that discovered the giant East
Texas oil field which, with an estimated
recovery of 6 billion barrels of oil, became the
largest oil field in the world at that time.
(The photo on the right is the Daisy Bradford
No. 3.)
Recognizing the significance of the East Texas
discovery before the rest of the oil industry
did, H. L. Hunt moved quickly and took a
significant risk by purchasing the Daisy
Bradford No. 3 and nearby leases from Joiner.
The Daisy Bradford No. 3 continues to produce to
this day.
It all began here. C.M. "Dad" Joiner (third from
left) shakes the hand of Dr. A.D. Lloyd, his
geologist, in front of the No. 3 Daisy Bradford,
discovery well of the East Texas oil field. H.L.
Hunt is third from right. |
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The 1931 drilling crew who serviced H.L. Hunt's
first wells in East Texas.
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This East Texas field provided the financial
base for the founding of Hunt Oil Company in
1934. In the decades since, the company has
continued to discover and develop significant
oil and gas fields, both onshore and offshore,
in North America and abroad. |
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History of area pictures contributed by Mrs. D.
Davenport |
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