Texas Oil Patch

Oil was first detected in Texas in 1543 when Spanish explorer Luis de Moscoso of the DeSoto expedition saw oil floating on the water in the Galveston Bay in an area between High Island and the Sabine Pass, near Port Arthur, Texas.

The first significant oil discovery in Texas did not happen for another 300 years. And Texas has been pumping the stuff ever since. Today Texas is the leading crude oil-producer in the nation, accounting for 22 percent of crude oil production in the U.S.