Oregon and Washington Offshore Oil Exploration Research Records, 1965-1989

Title: Oregon and Washington Offshore Oil Exploration Research Records, 1965-1989

Predominant Dates: 1965-1967

ID: MSS OWOOER

Primary Creator: Yeats, Robert S.

Extent: 0.35 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Oregon and Washington Offshore Oil Exploration Research Records consist of materials assembled by Robert S. Yeats pertaining to oil exploration offshore of Oregon and Washington in the 1960s, primarily on the outer continental shelf. Some of the materials appear to have been assembled by LaVerne Kulm. The Records consist primarily of copies of reports and data from exploratory wells drilled by Shell Oil Company, Pan American Petroleum Corporation, and Union Oil Company of California. The reports include electrical and mud logs, drilling permits and drilling reports, and core sample descriptions.

The collection also includes a photocopy of a 1971 article, "Petroleum Potential of Western Oregon and Washington and Adjacent Continental Margin" by Dana B. Braislin et al. that was published in Future Petroleum Provinces of the United States--Their Geology and Potential. This article provides a brief historical summary of oil and gas exploration in western Oregon and Washington. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1892, Preliminary Evaluation of the Petroleum Potential of the Tertiary Accretionary Terrane, West Side of the Olympic Peninsula (1989), is also part of the collection.

Robert S. Yeats joined the faculty of Oregon State University as Chair of the Geology Department in 1977. Yeats continued as department chair until 1985; he conducted an active research and teaching program in earthquake geology and active tectonics. Yeats retired in 1998, but maintained an active research program as a Professor Emeritus of Geology.

Laverne D. Kulm was a Professor of Oceanography at Oregon State University from 1964 until his retirement in 1997. Kulm conducted extensive geologic research on the continental margin offshore of Oregon and Washington. He earned his Ph.D. at Oregon State University in 1965 and conducted his dissertation research on the sediments of Yaquina Bay, Oregon.

More Extent Information: 1 box

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These materials were sent to the Oregon State University Libraries in 2012 by Robert S. Yeats and placed in the Special Collections & Archives Research Center.

Related Materials: Additional materials pertaining to oil exploration in western Oregon are available in the Western Oregon Petroleum Exploration Well Records (MSS WOPE). The College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Records (RG 173) and the Geosciences Department Records (RG 208) include materials pertaining to oceanographic and geologic research at Oregon State University.

Preferred Citation: Oregon and Washington Offshore Oil Exploration Research Records (MSS OWOOER), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Yeats, Robert S.
Kulm, LaVerne D. (1936-)
Pan American Petroleum Corporation
Shell Oil Company
Union Oil Company of California

Natural Resources
Offshore oil well drilling--Oregon.
Offshore oil well drilling--Washington (State)
Petroleum--Prospecting--Oregon--Pacific Coast.
Petroleum--Prospecting--Washington (State)--Pacific Coast.
University History