44
shown in Fig. 3.4. The project became known locally as “Drake’s Folly” because no
one thought he would ever recover enough oil to offset expenses.
Drake used a 6-horsepower (4.5 kW) horizontal steam engine to ram the drill
through the soil until it reached bedrock at a depth of 32 feet (10 m). From the
description, this was not a modern rotary drill rig but a vertical percussion rig known
as a “cable tool” that essentially pounded a hole down into the ground. (Some of
these are still in use today for shallow drilling in the Appalachian basin.)
Drake’s major innovation was to install 50 feet (20 m) of cast iron casing in the
hole to stabilize it from groundwater infiltration and possible collapse (McKithan
1978). Earlier boreholes had been shored up with wooden planks, but this is the first
recorded use of iron pipe. In what was to become a pattern throughout his life,
Drake failed to patent the idea, and suffered for it financially when it was widely
adopted by others.
Drake and Uncle Billy Smith continued drilling at a rate of about 3 feet (1 m) per
day once they penetrated bedrock. On August 27, 1859 the drill reached its maximum depth of 69.5 feet (21.2 m) and Drake was forced to stop. The borehole filled
with water overnight. When Uncle Billy visited the next day, he found oil on top of
the water at a depth of just 5 inches (13 cm) from the top of the well (McKithan 1978).
The original derrick burned down soon afterward, and Drake was forced to
rebuild the structure and drill a replacement well to continue production (the photo
in Fig. 3.4 shows the second derrick). The well produced 12–20 barrels (2–3 m
3
) of
oil per day until 1861. The property was sold in 1864 and the derrick was exhibited
in Philadelphia at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Replicas of the derrick and the
engine house have been constructed at the location of the original well in the historical park that is now part of the U.S. National Historic Landmark designation for the
site (Harper 1998).
A barrel of oil is equivalent to 42 gallons, or 159 liters. The origins of the oil barrel date back to a nineteenth century watertight container known as a tierce that was
used for shipping soap, wine, molasses, butter, and whale oil. Several early American
oil producers met in Titusville in August of 1866 and agreed that the 42-gallon tierce
would serve as the standard container for shipping crude oil. Their decision was
practical – the 42-gallon barrel weighed about 300 pounds (136 kg) when filled with
crude oil and was about the maximum size one man could reasonably handle. Bigger
casks were unmanageable and smaller containers were less profitable. (Source:
https://aoghs.org/transportation/history-of-the-42-gallon-oil-barrel/)
Why is the Drake well credited with being the “first” commercial oil well not
only in the United States, but the world? After all, oil had been recovered from brine
wells for decades all over the globe. In fact, according to the Canadian Petroleum
Hall of Fame, the first successful oil well in North America was drilled at Oil
Springs, Ontario by James Miller Williams in 1858, fully a year before Edwin Drake
and Uncle Billy Smith drilled the Titusville well. Williams founded the “The Canada
Oil Company” and used petroleum from his well to manufacture refined lamp oil.
(http://www.canadianpetroleumhalloffame.ca/index.html)
Despite the Canadian claim to fame, the thing that makes the Drake well unique
is that it was the first well drilled specifically and deliberately for oil (Harper 1998).
3 The History of Oil & Gas Development in the U.S.
shown in Fig. 3.4. The project became known locally as “Drake’s Folly” because no
one thought he would ever recover enough oil to offset expenses.
Drake used a 6-horsepower (4.5 kW) horizontal steam engine to ram the drill
through the soil until it reached bedrock at a depth of 32 feet (10 m). From the
description, this was not a modern rotary drill rig but a vertical percussion rig known
as a “cable tool” that essentially pounded a hole down into the ground. (Some of
these are still in use today for shallow drilling in the Appalachian basin.)
Drake’s major innovation was to install 50 feet (20 m) of cast iron casing in the
hole to stabilize it from groundwater infiltration and possible collapse (McKithan
1978). Earlier boreholes had been shored up with wooden planks, but this is the first
recorded use of iron pipe. In what was to become a pattern throughout his life,
Drake failed to patent the idea, and suffered for it financially when it was widely
adopted by others.
Drake and Uncle Billy Smith continued drilling at a rate of about 3 feet (1 m) per
day once they penetrated bedrock. On August 27, 1859 the drill reached its maximum depth of 69.5 feet (21.2 m) and Drake was forced to stop. The borehole filled
with water overnight. When Uncle Billy visited the next day, he found oil on top of
the water at a depth of just 5 inches (13 cm) from the top of the well (McKithan 1978).
The original derrick burned down soon afterward, and Drake was forced to
rebuild the structure and drill a replacement well to continue production (the photo
in Fig. 3.4 shows the second derrick). The well produced 12–20 barrels (2–3 m
3
) of
oil per day until 1861. The property was sold in 1864 and the derrick was exhibited
in Philadelphia at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Replicas of the derrick and the
engine house have been constructed at the location of the original well in the historical park that is now part of the U.S. National Historic Landmark designation for the
site (Harper 1998).
A barrel of oil is equivalent to 42 gallons, or 159 liters. The origins of the oil barrel date back to a nineteenth century watertight container known as a tierce that was
used for shipping soap, wine, molasses, butter, and whale oil. Several early American
oil producers met in Titusville in August of 1866 and agreed that the 42-gallon tierce
would serve as the standard container for shipping crude oil. Their decision was
practical – the 42-gallon barrel weighed about 300 pounds (136 kg) when filled with
crude oil and was about the maximum size one man could reasonably handle. Bigger
casks were unmanageable and smaller containers were less profitable. (Source:
https://aoghs.org/transportation/history-of-the-42-gallon-oil-barrel/)
Why is the Drake well credited with being the “first” commercial oil well not
only in the United States, but the world? After all, oil had been recovered from brine
wells for decades all over the globe. In fact, according to the Canadian Petroleum
Hall of Fame, the first successful oil well in North America was drilled at Oil
Springs, Ontario by James Miller Williams in 1858, fully a year before Edwin Drake
and Uncle Billy Smith drilled the Titusville well. Williams founded the “The Canada
Oil Company” and used petroleum from his well to manufacture refined lamp oil.
(http://www.canadianpetroleumhalloffame.ca/index.html)
Despite the Canadian claim to fame, the thing that makes the Drake well unique
is that it was the first well drilled specifically and deliberately for oil (Harper 1998).
3 The History of Oil & Gas Development in the U.S.