There has been evolution in oil production technology today compared to how it was in the past as you will learn more here. Because of its importance in our lives, it is best if we take a look at the changes that have taken place since it was discovered. 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. 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 advancement in technology came in form of spring poles. The spring pole equipment as you will discover here was tied to a tree which made it possible to reach more depth and was increasingly used by the Ruffner brothers to make salt extraction easier. Despite a hint of the possible things oil could be used for at this time, oil was still not a necessity. 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. After the discovery by Benjamin, there was more interest in this product and commercial extraction could be seen as you’ll see here.
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. However there were hard sediments that made drilling difficult hence the need for improved equipment. Thus the rotary whose drill head went deeper past the sediment without the need to clear the debris constantly was developed. The success of the rig was witnessed in Beaumont Texas where the drill hit a field and a lot of oil started flowing towards 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 important aspect of the rotary drilling method was to extract oil found very deep into the earth.
Right now the world still uses the rotary drill for oil extraction. Even though the rotary rigs are still in use, they have been modified to today’s technology. Besides that, the rigs are more sophisticated. An instance, is the ability of a rig to move on its own as well to extract oil from a number of fields.