Significant Milestones in Oil Production Technology
The technology in the production oil has not been left behind in advancing as you will read more here. Since oil is an essential commodity for the survival of man, a look into the changes in technology in production is a good idea. The ancient people in Mesopotamia used a hardened substance called bitumen to construct sailing vessels and put jewelry pieces together. The Kings of Egypt used bitumen for the construction of the famous pyramids. These minerals which oozed to the surface freely requiring no extraction equipment led to the discovery of oil.
The first method used to extract oil was by digging up the soil to reach the oil. The people living in this period used oil to heal diseases, light their lamps and heat their houses. Little information about oil existence was available at the time as you have seen in this site.
The next discovery to be made as you will find here, was the spring pole. This apparatus which was connected to a tree was made popular by the Ruffner brothers with the intention of reaching more salt deeper in the earth. Oil was still not the primary goal but the people believed it could serve several purposes. However when steam power was introduced, the brothers were able to drill salt at a faster rate. A chemist at Yale by the name Benjamin Silliman discovered more about distillation of oil into Kerosene that could be used in lamps to provide lighting and even cook. Following this information, people saw the importance of oil and processes to extract it began.
As you learn more about how the demand for oil surged in this website. More oil deposits were also discovered deeper in the earth. During the drilling process there were sediments that obstructed extraction of oil and the need for better machinery came up. Thus the rotary whose drill head went deeper past the sediment without the need to clear the debris constantly was developed. One historic moment was witnessed in Texas where a rig in Beaumont struck oil and it rose to the surface trickling like rain water. As the world war 1 was set to begin, the demand for this product increased resulting in dire need for improved equipment following strong competition among nations. The most successful development for the rotary drill was the ability to dig deeper.
Today, the most common method of extracting oil is the rotary rig. Besides been in use, the equipment has had significant changes technologically to improve efficiency. From what you have read in this website, you can see that the rigs can do more work than they did in the past. One such case is the increased mobility of the rig to extract oil from several oil wells.