There has been evolution in oil production technology today compared to how it was in the past as you will learn more here. Since oil is an essential commodity for the survival of man, a look into the changes in technology in production is a good idea. Traditionally, people in Mesopotamia used bitumen to make boats and hold earrings, necklaces, and bangles together. The Kings of Egypt used bitumen for the construction of the famous pyramids. Bitumen, asphalt and mortar although did not require drilling, were the substances that led to the discovery of oil.
From this site, you find out that oil was first extracted by 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 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. Benjamin Silliman a chemist at Yale learned more about processes that could convert the oil into kerosene that could then be used in 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. Following the demand; there was an increase in the number of oil fields that were discovered. During the drilling process there were sediments that obstructed extraction of oil and the need for better machinery came up. As a result, a technique called rotary drilling was developed whose head penetrated the hard rock without the need to remove debris regularly. One historic moment was witnessed in Texas where a rig in Beaumont struck oil and it rose to the surface trickling like rain water. With the world war 1 coming around, the demand for oil rose, leading to increased competition which resulted in greater development of oil tools. The most successful development for the rotary drill was the ability to dig deeper.
At the moment as we learn more here, rotary rigs are still in use for extracting oil. Besides been in use, the equipment has had significant changes technologically to improve efficiency. As you will see here, the rigs are enhanced compared to the past. An instance, is the ability of a rig to move on its own as well to extract oil from a number of fields.