Erle P. Halliburton

Erle Palmer Halliburton (September 22, 1892, near Henning, Tennessee - October 13, 1957, in Los Angeles) was an American businessman specializing in the oil business.

Prior to United States entry into World War I, Halliburton gained exposure to shipboard engineering as a member of the United States Navy. After his honorable discharge in 1915, he headed for the oilfields of California, where he was able to apply techniques analogous to the technology with which he had worked in the Navy. His drive and his sense of innovation soon brought him into conflict with his boss, Almond Perkins. Halliburton later quipped that getting hired and getting fired by the Perkins Oil Well Cementing Company were the two best opportunities he had ever received.

Halliburton and his wife Vida C Tabor Halliburton established the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company in Oklahoma in 1919. By 1922, this company was operating as Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company, which later became known as Halliburton Company on July 5, 1961. He also designed the aluminum suitcases which are now manufactured by Zero Halliburton.

Erle P. Halliburton's Memorial Statue in Memorial Park in Duncan, OK

Further reading

• NNDB
• LYCOS
• Kenny A. Franks, The Oklahoma Petroleum Industry (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980);
• Kenny A. Franks, Paul F. Lambert, and Carl N. Tyson, Early Oklahoma Oil: A Photographic History, 1859-1936 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1981).
• J. Evetts Haley, Erle P. Halliburton: Genius with Cement (Duncan, Okla.: Privately printed, 1959).