U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for August 27: Well Being

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

WELL BEING

Profile America — Saturday, August 27th. The U.S. petroleum industry got its start on this date in 1859. That's when blacksmith William Smith saw a dark film floating on the surface of the water in a hole he was boring near Titusville, Pennsylvania. Rising from a depth of just 69 feet, it was the oil he was seeking for his employer, Edwin Drake. Soon, the nation's first commercial oil well was pumping out crude oil. Western Pennsylvania was the center of the infant industry, as new uses were found for the long familiar product. Today, there are over 600,000 oil wells in the U.S., producing about 13.4 million barrels of petroleum products per day. Some 8,200 businesses engage in extracting oil and gas, employing 138,000 people in a $333 billion a year industry. Profile America is in its 20th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 3528
Early oil industry/accessed 5/25/2016:  http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/pennsylvaniaoilindustry.html 
Oil wells/accessed 5/25/2016: http://www.worldoil.com/magazine/2015/february-2015/special-focus/active-us-oil-wells-pass-the-600-000-mark 
Daily output/accessed 5/25/2016:  http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=268&t=6 
Establishments and employment/NAICS 211: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2014/00A1//naics~211 
Revenues/NAICS 211: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ECN/2012_US/00A1//naics~211

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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