1 Introduction
Oil has been used for lighting purposes for many thousand years. In areas where oil
is found in shallow reservoirs, seeps of crude oil or gas may naturally develop, and
some oil could simply be collected from seepage or tar ponds. Historically, we know
of tales of eternal fires where oil and gas seeps would ignite and burn. One example
1000 B.C. is the site where the famous oracle of Delphi would be built, and 500 B.C.
Chinese were using natural gas to boil water.
But it was not until 1859 that "Colonel" Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil
well, for the sole purpose of finding oil.
The Drake Well was located in the middle of quiet farm country in north-western
Pennsylvania, and began the international search for and industrial use of petroleum.
Photo: Drake Well Museum Collection, Titusville, PA
These wells were shallow by modern standards, often less than 50 meters, but could
give quite large production. In the picture from the Tarr Farm, Oil Creek Valley, the
Phillips well on the right was flowing initially at 4000 barrels per day in October
1861, and the Woodford well on the left came in at 1500 barrels per day in July,