One of the early theories of the origin of oil suggested that this black substance was nothing more than … whale urine that settles on the bottom of the oceans, and then penetrates into the earth’s interior through underground channels.
In the study of the origin of oil, there is also an alien trace. At the end of the 19th century, the Russian scientist V.D. Sokolov suggested that hydrocarbon molecules were contained in a gas and dust cloud from which our planet was formed.
The very first method of extracting oil was collection from the surface of reservoirs – it was used in Media, Babylonia and Syria even before our era.
The deepest well reached 12,262 meters.
In dense limestone rocks, the drill travels only 30 centimeters per hour, and up to 24 meters in soft sediments.
If wells ceased to operate after they stopped flowing, more than 80% of the oil would remain underground.
In 1865, a pump was used for the first time in the United States to pump oil. Later, a more advanced method of raising oil to the surface appeared – compressor. With this method, compressed gas or air is injected into the well with a special device – a gas lift.
Americans consider 1896 to be the start date of the offshore oil field, and its pioneer is the oilman Williams from California, who drilled wells from the embankment he built.
