Water Rails & Oil - Historic Mid & South Jefferson County

VALERO ENERGY
CORPORATION
The year was 1901 and Port Arthur was
little more than a fishing community and a
small commercial port. But things were about
to change…
On January 10, 1901, in a field about fifteen
miles to the North, a wildcat driller named Lucas
sunk a drill bit into a pool of crude oil that would
spew a “geyser” of “black gold” that would take
nine days to tame. At the time, the driller was
working with money supplied by two business
partners, John Galey and James Guffey. These two
industrious individuals soon parlayed ownership
of their Spindletop oil leases into a deal that
would form the Gulf Refining Company of Texas.
Soon after, two crude oil stills were built in marsh
land located west of Port Arthur and the Port
Arthur Refinery was born.
Though ownership of the Port Arthur
Refinery has changed throughout the hundredplus
years of its existence, the refinery has seen
and participated in the innovation and
evolution of the oil refining business. Presently,
though no longer the largest refinery in the
world, it remains one of the largest and most
advanced on the Gulf Coast. As for the future,
Valero Energy Corporation, current owner of the
facility, plans to continue to develop the facility
as part of its long range plans to produce high
quality transportation fuels.
Finally, any mention of the Port Arthur
Refinery has to note the fact that the success of the
operation has involved more that just concrete,
iron and crude. Throughout the years, literally
tens of thousands of Port Arthur and Southeast
Texas residents have worked at the refinery and
many present employees can trace their ancestry
back to the original builders of the first crude
stills. This legacy of loyalty and dedication
combined with years of industrial innovation has
served to ensure the continued growth of both the
Port Arthur Refinery and Southeast Texas.
❖
Valero Energy then and now.
Sharing the Heritage ✦ 95