The concept for an all inclusive petroleum organization was realized when the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association was formed on October 13, 1917, at a meeting held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, the United States was engaged in World War I, and one of the principle purposes behind the Association’s formation was to provide essential supplies of petroleum and petroleum products to the armed forces of the United States and its allies. As one member put it, "…to float to victory upon a wave of oil." Mid-Continent’s contribution to that success helped establish it as an association in which individuals working cooperatively could resolve mutual problems and achieve major results for the betterment of the national petroleum industry.

Represented at the meeting were oil producers, casinghead gasoline producers, supply companies, refiners, as well as other segments of the industry. Frank Haskell of Tidal Oil Company was the first president, and J. H. Evans of Devonian Oil Company the first vice-president. The first office of this national association was established in Tulsa in November 1917.

At the time the association was formed, its work and its plan of organization was general in nature. However, it was soon found that, in addition to general and national problems, the association was called upon to consider local problems in the various oil producing states. As a consequence, on July 1, 1919, two local divisions were formed under the general auspices of the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association. These were known as "Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, Kansas-Oklahoma Division" and "Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, Texas-Louisiana Division."

Subsequently, it was found that oil activities in the Louisiana-Arkansas  area had grown to such a size that a separate division of the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association was necessary to handle local oil affairs in those states. Accordingly, on January 4, 1923, the Louisiana activities of the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association were separated from the Texas activities, and the "Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, Texas Division" and the "Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, Louisiana-Arkansas Division" were formed.

Twelve years later, oil operations in the states of Mississippi and Alabama became quite extensive, and the "Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, Mississippi-Alabama Division" was organized at Jackson, Mississippi, on October 27, 1944.

After many years of service to the Texas oil & gas industry, in 1997  Texas Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association changed it's name to the Texas Oil & Gas Association, thereby signifying a new era for the organization.

Subsequently, the national Mid-Continent organization elected US Oil & Gas Association as its name. It has four affiliated divisions, (1) the Oklahoma Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, with headquarters at Tulsa; (2) the Texas Oil & Gas Association, with headquarters at Austin; (3) the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, with headquarters at Baton Rouge; and (4) the US Oil & Gas Association, Alabama-Mississippi Division, with headquarters at Jackson, (formerly the Mississippi-Alabama Mid-Continent.)