Significant Milestones in Oil Production Technology
There have been significant changes in technology in the production of oil since its first production as you will read more here. Considering the value of oil to our lives, it is suitable to review the changes that have followed its discovery. In the past, in Ancient Mesopotamia bitumen a hardened substance was used in ship construction and holding jewelry together. In Egypt, it was used to solidify the famous pyramids. Bitumen, asphalt and mortar although did not require drilling, were the substances that led to the discovery of oil.
The technique used to obtain oil on its discovery was by simply digging. At the time, oil was used as medicine and the Chinese also lit their lamps as well as warm their houses using this product. 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. The device as you discover more here, was attached to a tree which provided the required resistance to reach greater depth, was used by the Ruffner brothers to enhance salt extraction. Oil was still not the primary goal but the people believed it could serve several purposes. With the introduction of steam to power ,the spring pole salt extraction proceeded at higher rates. A Yale chemist Benjamin Silliman discovered more about how oil could be converted into kerosene that is used for lighting lamps. It is at this point that the society became interested in the commodity and commercial drilling began.
From this website, you will read more about how the need for oil increased significantly. 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. Consequently, a method called rotary drilling emerged whose head could move past the hard sediment with great ease. One event that marked how effectiveness of the rotary drill in the process of oil extraction was observed in Texas when a rig struck a rock resulting into a lot of oil flowing to the surface. 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. However, they are advanced technologically as they are fitted with digital tracking devices, touchpads and video control to monitor and access the rigs from a fur. From what you have read in this website, you can see that the rigs can do more work than they did in the past. For example ,as you see here is that one rig can drill multiple oil wells and even move on their own.
