Some might say much has not changed despite that fewer drills are cropping up over the region’s many fields. Jack Westbrook, author of “A History of Michigan Oil and Gas Exploration and Production,” said 64 of the 68 counties in Michigan’s lower peninsula have had oil drills headquartered in Mount Pleasant.

“Though later years have seen the intensity of field activity shift elsewhere in the state,” he said. “Mount Pleasant remains a viable center of petroleum industry activity with 98 business entities with Mount Pleasant addresses.”

Westbrook said a lot of people do not realize Mount Pleasant is still referred to as the oil capital of Michigan.

The Oil & Gas Journal reported in January that 2009 was a “roller coaster drilling year,” with the number of rigs in the U.S. down 42 percent from 2008.

The number of wells in the nation this year was estimated at 38,238 amid predictions in 2006, according to the American Petroleum Institute. That is down by about 55 percent from 1981, when the number of wells was counted at 84,983.

Far from dead

Steve Bigard, president of Bigard & Huggard Drilling Inc., is one of only two drilling contractors still based in Mount Pleasant. This number, he said, was about 25 in the 1980s.

The industry, however, is far from dead.

Bigard’s company, 5580 Venture Way, recently activated two oil wells just north of the Isabella County Fairgrounds in December and January of this year.

“We’ve felt the cycles depending on oil pricing — 2007 and 2008 were strong years, while 2009 was a little weaker,” Bigard said. “We’re optimistic for the future in 2010.”

Scott Bellinger, managing editor of Michigan Oil and Gas News, said companies are active in the community and have applied for new drilling permits.

Because of this, he believes there will continue to be more activity for at least this year and possibly next.

“On a broader scale, Mount Pleasant has been considered the oil capital of Michigan because of the activity and many companies base here based on this central location,” Bellinger said. “It’s geographically motivated.”

Westbrook said the ups and downs in the industry are mostly because of companies’ worry over new regulations going through the national government.

President Barack Obama’s support for the Cap and Trade bill, which would steadily decline the limits on the amount of carbon dioxide a company is allowed to emit, has many players in the industry apprehensive about beginning new rigs until they know how the legislation will affect them.

“Right now, there a temporary lag in exploration because of uncertainty in regulation aspects,” Westbrook said. “We’re in a valley but, if you look at a long-term graph of the oil industry, every time we hit a valley, we come back and hit a peak higher than the one before. The oil industry should overcome it.”

A long history

The first oil field was struck on Feb. 27, 1928, in Mount Pleasant.

Westbrook said this oil strike by the Pure Oil Company ended up being the fourth largest in Michigan history.

He considers it a rich history for Mount Pleasant. In the early 1900s, many oil companies came to Michigan to explore the land in search of the black gold. Between 1900 and 1925, 80 wells had been drilled in the state, but they had little success and many of people began to think the idea of the state being a big producer was wrong.

Faith was restored in Michigan’s oil potential in 1925, when oil was struck in Saginaw. After Pure Oil Company found the Mount Pleasant Oil Field in 1928, Westbrook said the city was booming with production almost overnight. He said the field ended up producing 29 million barrels of oil altogether.

“The Mount Pleasant Field is credited with essentially shielding the town of Mount Pleasant from the Great Depression,” he said.

Between 1929 and 1941, the brunt of the Depression, Michigan produced 160 million barrels of crude oil, producing $166,592,000 for the Michigan economy.

But the industry’s growth still held consequences — seven people were killed in July 1931, when an oil well exploded over a crowd of 2,000 people.

In February 2002, a Mount Pleasant man was killed in a drill-related accident. According to previous Central Michigan Life reports, Earl Wilson III, 31, was killed when a spinning power shaft attached to a drill caught his clothing.

A companion of Wilson’s told CM Life he loved the oil industry.