Annotated Bibliography: How was oil found with poor equipment?
Longrigg, Stephen H. Oil in the Middle East: Its Discovery and Development. London: Oxford U.P, 1967. Print.
Oil was first discovered in the Middle East now known as Iran as stated by Longrigg. Already in the ancient times, oil was used in fire weapons of the Achaemenid Empire as they attacked cities and castles in the sixth century B.C. Oil is known to have been in use in the Middle East around 450B.C , according to Greek historians who witnessed its use in Babylon, present day Iraq. Alexander the Great used oil-fueled torches to frighten his enemies. Plutarch also witnessed oil bubbling up from the ground in Kirkuk. Oil was also known in China in 347A.D; the Chinese used bamboo to drill it up from the ground. About a thousand years later, the Baku people used oil for medicine and lighting, as described by explorer Marco Polo.
Centuries before modern day production, oil slicks had been spotted in American coasts during the exploration of California. The Beatty well located in southeastern Kentucky was the first to produce oil for commercial consumption. Another oil well was drilled in Ohio for salt water, but instead of water, the well was found to be containing oil and natural gas. The first ever oil well was drilled in China in 347 C.E. with a depth of 240 meters. Bamboo poles were used in drilling the wells since they have a hole inside and were cheap.
Jillson, Willard R. The First Oil Well in Kentucky: Notes on the History, Geology, Production and Present Status of the Beatty Oil Well, Drilled in Wayne, Now Mccreary County, Kentucky, in the Year 1818. Frankfort: Roberts Print. Co, 1952. Print.
In this paper Jillson expounds on how oil was found in the past despite the use of poor equipment. Oil has always been one of the worlds most precious commodities Various types of equipment were used in the drilling of wells; for example, the drilling equipment included pieces of bamboo bound together with bits used in boring holes into the earth. Oil in China and Japan was used as fuel for lighting and heating. In Japan oil was referred to as the “burning water” in the 7th century. Petroleum was distilled by Muhammad Ibn Zakariya Razi to produce chemicals like kerosene.
Campbell, Lindsay. Moonie and Oil Search: The Story of the Discovery of Oil in Australia with Historical and Technical Background to Oil Search. Sydney: Edwards & Shaw, 1964. Print.
The first commercial well in North America was drilled in the village of Oil Springs in 1858 while the first offshore well was located at the Summerland oil fields off the coast of California. The use of dropped cables was another way of extracting oil from the earth. Percussion drilling of oil wells involved dropping and raising drilling bits by means of cables into the ground. In the 20th century, rotary drilling of wells replaced the cable tools used in the past. Rotary drilling was preferred to cables since they could drill sufficiently deep boreholes in less time. During the drilling process, the miners ensured that the wells drilled were vertical despite the imperfect mechanical parts that led to slight deviations from a true vertical line. The implementation of modern technology has allowed drillers to reach the depths necessary for horizontal drilling. The latest advances in technology have spurred even greater rises in oil production in recent years.
O’Meara, Michael. Oil Springs-the Birthplace of the Oil Industry in North America. Oil Springs, Ont: Centennial Historical Committee, 1963..
O’Meara explains that a drilling string is another tool that is attached to bits and used to drill oil wells. The rocks beneath are sheared into slices as the bits turn. Drilling fluid is pumped into drill pipes and exits later through the drill bit. The fluid is made up of a mixture of solids and liquid chemicals that need to be separated into more useful elements. During the process of oil distillation, mining mud is used to distil the rocks in the wellbore and for the cooling of bits. However, when the generated rock is circulated outside the drill pipes, it goes into the shakers that strain in separating it from the good fluids that return in the pit.
The production stage is identified as the most important stage in the well’s life in which gas is mainly produced. The oil rigs were moved off the wellbore and the top was fitted with the collection valve known as the production tree that was used in controlling the pressure. Tubes were also used in the mining process of oil from the wells which were maintained and replaced through the use of rigs.
Campbell. Colin J, and Jean h. Laherrere. “The end of cheap oil.” Scientific American 278.3 (1998): 60-5
The author begins by highlighting the many centuries that oil has been in use, especially in the Middle East. The Greek Herodotus described the existence of oil pits in Babylon, present day Iraq, around 450 BC. Alexander the Great was among the first people to use oil-fueled torches in warfare. Another Greek, Plutarch, has recorded witnessing oil bubbling up from the ground.
The kind of tools that were used to explore oil were poor and they often broke down and this is what led to spending significant amounts of time without any success when it came to oil exploration. The people in the Middle East did not have high quality tools but they still had a way of getting to the core of the oil beds.
Thorsen, Olav Vaag and Magnus Dalva. “A survey of faults on induction motors in offshore oil industry, gas terminals, and oil refineries.” IEEE transaction on industry application 31.5 (1995): 1186-1196
The history of oil and the petroleum industry dates way back in the 19th century in the United States. The kind of tools and equipment used to drill and make the discovery of oil were a bit sophisticated but they were still poor in that they did not efficiently reach the oil beds. It is at this time that they opted to dig the ground using hard and strong metallic objects. Petroleum extraction first became an industry in Oil Creek Pennsylvania, in 1859. Since U.S was the most advanced, it became the largest oil producing nation in the world.
Wright, Gavin. “The origins of American Industrial success, 1879-1940.” The American Economic Review (1990): 651-668
Humans had some slight knowledge about oil in that they assumed that any oil whether from plants or extracted from the ground had a very nice burning effect. People in antiquity mainly used oil from vegetables for lighting. Animal fat was also in use such as that derived from whales which provided the fuel for lights, especially in the U.S.A. In 1841, a scientist in Pennsylvania discovered that there was a way in which oil could be dug out from the ground using very strong wood. With this idea, others came up and improved on the kind of tools used to do the same. Since eucalyptus tree was found to be suitable for this kind of work, it was one of the poor tools put into use in order to extract oil.
Gray, George R, H C. H. Darley, and Walter F. Rogers. Composition and Properties of Oil Well Drilling Fluids. Houston: Gulf Pub. Co., Book Division, 1980.
Petroleum in its unprocessed form is a yellow-to-black liquid that is extracted beneath the earth’s surface. Its components can be extracted using fractional distillation. Dead zooplankton and the algae have been the source material for oil that have been buried under sedimentary rocks for millions of years and subjected to high pressure. Petroleum produces a lot of refined products: from petrol and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents that are used in making plastic. Asphalt was used in the construction of walls and towers of Babylon thousands years ago, a feat made possible by the existence of several oil pits around Babylon. In the Middle Ages, chemist in the Arab world distilled crude oil to produce flammable products that were used in the military. In the 12th century, distillation became available in Western Europe as well, through Islamic Spain. However, a number of centuries had to go by before the first modern refinery was built in Pechelbronn oil field was active in 1857.
The modern history of petroleum begun in the 19th century with the process of extracting paraffin from crude oil. In 1847, James Young noticed seepage of petroleum in Alfreton, Derbyshire, from which he was able to distil thicker oil used in lubricating machines. When Young noticed that oil was dripping from the roof of sandstone of the coal mine he hypothesized that it could be due to the heat from the coal steam. This prompted further theorizing on the issue of artificial oil production.
Works Cited
Albion, Robert G. Exploration and Discovery. , 1965. Print.
Best Available and Safest Technologies for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations: Options for Implementation. 2013. Web. 16 January, 2017.
Campbell, Lindsay. Moonie and Oil Search: The Story of the Discovery of Oil in Australia with Historical and Technical Background to Oil Search. Sydney: Edwards & Shaw, 1964. Print. 5. Brantly, John E. History of Oil Well Drilling. Houston: Book Division, Gulf Pub. Co, 1971. Print.
Campbell. Colin J, and Jean h. Laherrere. “The end of cheap oil.” Scientific American 278.3 (1998): 60-5
Carmichael, Frank R. Offshore Drilling Technology. Park Ridge, N.J: Noyes Data Corp, 1975. Print.
Devereux, Steve. Drilling for Oil & Gas: A Nontechnical Guide. Tulsa, OK: PennWell, 1999. Web. 16 January, 2017.
Gow, Bonar A. Roughnecks, Rock Bits and Rigs: The Evolution of Oil Well Drilling Technology in Alberta, 1883-1970. Calgary. Alta: University of Calgary Press, 2005
Gray, George R, H C. H. Darley, and Walter F. Rogers. Composition and Properties of Oil Well Drilling Fluids. Houston: Gulf Pub. Co., Book Division, 1980. Web. 16 January, 2017
Howard, Roger. The Oil Hunters: Exploration and Espionage in the Middle East 1880-1939. London: Hambledon Continuum, 2008. Print.
Jillson, Willard R. The First Oil Well in Kentucky: Notes on the History, Geology, Production and Present Status of the Beatty Oil Well, Drilled in Wayne, Now Mccreary County, Kentucky, in the Year 1818. Frankfort: Roberts Print. Co, 1952. Print.
Lapeyrouse, Norton J. Formulas and Calculations for Drilling, Production, and Workover. Amsterdam: Gulf Professional Pub, 2002. Web. 16 January, 2017.
Longrigg, Stephen H. Oil in the Middle East: Its Discovery and Development. London: issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs [by] Oxford U.P, 1967. Print.
Offshore Drilling: Environmental and Commercial Perspectives: Oversight Hearing Before the Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First Session, Wednesday, February 11, 2009. Washington: U.S. G.P.O, 2009. Web. 16 January, 2017.
O’Meara, Michael. Oil Springs-the Birthplace of the Oil Industry in North America. Oil Springs, Ont: Centennial Historical Committee, 1963. Print.
Petroleum Refining: 3. Paris: Technip, 2001. Print.
Thorsen, Olav Vaag and Magnus Dalva. “A survey of faults on induction motors in offshore oil industry, gas terminals, and oil refineries.” IEEE transaction on industry application 31.5 (1995): 1186-1196
Wood, J.R. Visual Display of Reservoir Parameters Affecting Enhanced Oil Recovery. Fy 1994 Annual Report. Washington, D.C: United States. Dept. of Energy, 1995. Web. 16 January, 2017
Wright, Gavin. “The origins of American Industrial success, 1879-1940.” The American Economic Review (1990): 651-668