Then & Now - May 2019
May 1st, 2019
MAY 1989
The U.S. monthly seismic crew count falls to its lowest point since the Society of Exploration Geophysicists began keeping a monthly count in 1974, with 129 land and marine crews.
DOE Secretary James Watkins tells 10 DOE national laboratories to intensify research into electrolytic fusion following recent reports of a breakthrough in cold fusion.
WTI crude: $20.23/bbl
U.S. rig count: 751
MAY 1999
Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater reports that, due to the success of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, passed in response to the Exxon Valdez incident, in 1997 tanker spills were limited to 22,429 gallons out of 107 billion gallons of oil transported that year.
Chevron begins shutting down its beleaguered Point Arguello project off Santa Barbara, California, while they continue to look for a buyer for what was once touted as the biggest find ever …