WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
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MONDAY, AUGUST 27: FIRST COMMERCIAL OIL WELL
Profile America — Monday, August 27th. Much is being written and said about the nation's dependency on foreign oil and the daily need to fuel our cars, trucks, railroad locomotives, ships and jetliners. The U.S. petroleum industry got its start on this date in 1859, when "Uncle" Billy Smith saw a dark film floating on the water of a shaft he was digging near Titusville, Pennsylvania. Soon, the nation's first commercial oil well was pumping out crude oil. Today, there are 526,000 oil wells in the U.S., producing just under 2 billion barrels of crude oil a year. But to meet our daily needs, we import about 1 1/2 times that amount annually. That means some three-of-every-five gallons of crude oil we use comes from overseas. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2012, p. 420
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 910
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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