OIL-FIELD PRACTICE With the tremendous development that has taken place in the Petroleum Industry, now one of the largest and most impor tant in the country, it is difficult to realize that it is only two years over three score old. In 1859 Edwin Drake drilled his famous well at Oil Creek and discovered oil in commercial quantity. That strike created the first oil excitement in the Americas. Prior to that time oil was produced in small quanti ties from the brine wells of western New York and eastern Pennsylvania. Drake was the first man to drill successfully for oil. Since his early discovery the industry has grown by leaps and bounds. Oil has been sought all over the two Continents. Commercial pools have been found in Alaska, in Canada, in sixteen of the United States, in Mexico, in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and the Argentine.
Thousands of men are engaged in the drilling of oil and gas wells both in new and in proven areas. Thousands of others are engaged in handling the crude product. This must be transported to the refineries which in turn give the finished products of commerce.
.In the minds of many people the mining of petroleum is a hazardous gamble. Few indeed have a realization of the magni tude of this great industry or of its highly specialized character. Its development has been so rapid that only those in close touch with the industry fully appreciate its importance and its numer ous ramifications *hioh`einbixoe many other industries. Every one to-day uses petroleum products in some form. They enter into our daily lives in such a fashion that we do not consider their source. Gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil and distillates are all familiarly known and generally used.
But a broader conception may be gained when we consider that the paraffin wax used to seal jars, the fancy sealing waxes, the vaselines, chewing gums, and petroleum jellies are all products derived from crude petroleum. Dyes are manufactured from petroleum. In fact, over a thousand by-products of refined petroleum are in use. (See Plate I, p. 3.) To fill all the demands a tremendous amount of petroleum is required. • Some idea of the growth in the use of petroleum, familiarly called crude oil, may be gathered from the fact that in 1859, the United States supplied 2000 bbl. and in 1920, 443,400,000 bbl.
The for oil is increasing. The industry has grown from a very unimportant one to one of our greatest, employing many thousands of men. Over $6,000,000,000 is invested in petroleum properties, in pipe-lines, and in refineries.
The following chart of the working divisions of a complete oil company emphasizes the complexity of the industry.
The industry is well organized. Its most important divisions may be subdivided as follows: Producing, Transporting, Refining, and Marketing.
The functions of the producing department are to obtain oil lands, and to find and develop the crude petroleum.
The transportation division carries the oil to the refineries or to the markets.
The refining department takes the raw material and manufac tures it into the refined products of common use.
The marketing departments handle the distribution and selling of the products to the ultimate consumer.
The producing of oil falls into natural divisions: 1. Exploration.
2. Development.
3. Storage.
Exploration includes the search for areas thought favorable for oil accumulation, and the drilling of such areas to prove whether or not they contain oil deposits.
Development covers the field of active exploitation of proven areas.
Storage deals with the care and handling of oil.
The selection of oil lands may be under the guidance of petro leum geologists, trained specialists, who make a study of the accumulation of oil, and who explore areas in advance of the drill and select places for oil tests; or selection may be based on the finding of oil-seepages, or the occurrence of oil in water wells, by gas escapes, or by whim and "hunches." Many fields have been opened under geological guidance, which has recently become more practical and efficient, but it is safe to say that most of our American fields have been opened without technical guidance. This is especially true in the older Eastern fields, and in early developments in the Mid-Continent fields.