Not all of our projects here at E&P involve writing about cutting-edge technology. Once in awhile we get a chance to review interesting moments from this industry’s vital past. And once in awhile, in so doing, we find some really amusing tidbits.

Most recently I and my co-workers have been browsing through old issues of Petroleum

Service stations such as this were commonplace along new US interstates by the 1960s. (Photo courtesy of ConocoPhillips)
Engineer International (PEI) looking for articles about offshore technology for a publication about the history of offshore exploration and production. PEI is one of the titles that was rolled into E&P back in 1999, and it has been around since the 1920s. My research has focused on the issues published between 1958 and 1967.

For those of you who don’t remember, there wasn’t a lot of hot new offshore technology coming out in the late ’50s, at least in the United States, because of stiff production quotas and extremely low commodity prices. There were, however, other interesting developments during that time, one of which was the ramifications of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, in which then-US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law an act that resulted in the interstate highway system that Americans use today. Most of the PEI coverage about this act was rather negative since, of course, much of the money raised to fund the construction came from a gasoline tax. However, once in awhile the industry and its participants were also able to enjoy some of the benefits of these new super slabs.

In November 1961 the magazine reprinted part of an article by Lloyd N. Unsell, then an editor at the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). In IPAA’s monthly magazine, Unsell wrote an article called “Losing Circulation.” From this I quote:

“The industry now has about 208,000 service stations. This means it operates about 416,000 rest rooms, half marked ‘him’ and half ‘her.’ This is a rest room for every 430 Americans — and that’s quite an investment. These free and fancy rest rooms provided by the oil industry represent both a marvelous and costly service. Just think what they mean to traveling folks. If it weren’t for this unique oil industry service, there’d be a tourist behind every tree.
“Up to now, we’ve utterly failed to carry this story to the tourists. In addition to the convenience involved, the travel-weary public is saved from all sorts of pain and anguish. By way of example, the half-million ‘him’ and ‘her’ rooms provided by the oil industry at about every crossroads in round numbers must prevent:
• 17 million cases of poison ivy;
• 14 million bee, hornet, wasp and yellow jacket stings;
• 91,000 snake bites;
• 9 million infections from accidental contacts with briars, cactus needles and barbed wire fences;
• 4.5 million faintings or injuries from running as a result of contacts with bears, gila monsters, cougars, alligators, mean bulls and other varmints;
• US $22 million in damages suffered to clothing during such escapes;
• $9 million in fines for ignoring ‘no trespassing’ signs; and
• $103 million in damages to automobiles parked hurriedly in illegal or dangerous zones along the highway.”

Wow. Adjusted to 2007 dollars, those are some pretty big numbers.
I’d like to thank Mr. Unsell for reminding us how hard the industry works for the public and also for giving me something to chuckle about during my latest research project.

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