Potrero del Llano No. 4 well.

On December 27, 1910, the Mexican Eagle Co. LTD/Pearson  Potrero del Llano No. 4 well erupted, gushing oil 250 feet into the air. The well was initially capped in late January, 1911, but it was almost two months later before the well was controlled.

During those 3 months, the well ran wild with an estimated flow rate of 100,000 to 110,000 barrels of oil per day. The well was located near Tuxpan, approximately 300 km northwest of Veracruz, Mexico.  After the well was controlled and put into production, it produced at rates up to 45,000 barrels of oil per day and produced over 25 million barrels of oil in its first three years.  In August, 1914 an electrical storm ignited seepages around the well and the fire burned for six months.  These real photo postcards (RPPCs) show the gusher and the earthen pits dug to temporarily store the oil.

Mount, Houston Faust II, 2014, Oilfield Revolutionary – The Career of Everette Lee DeGolyer; Texas A&M University Press, 352 pp.

Fuel Oil Journal, v. 5, Feb., 1914, p. 4.

Fuel Oil Journal, v. 6, Jan., 1915, p. 3.