Utah’s Black Gold: The Petroleum Industry

Osmond L. Harline Utah Historical Quarterly 31 #3 With the end of World War II, interest in Utah’s oil and gas possibilities was renewed. The annual well-completion rate during 1945, 1946, and 1947 was double the pre-1945 rate, and the stage was set for the birth of the state’s commercial petroleum-producing industry. In contrast to the earlier years, there were …