Oil and its by product have been a useful commodity since around 5000 BC. Its use as a weapon was recorded in the East Roman Empire in 650 AD, while in medieval Europe oil was used for medical purposes, lubricants and paint fabrication.
Up to the beginning of the 19th century no oil seems to have been obtained except from the surfaces of springs and streams.
People were already familiar with oil because some oil deposits were close enough to the surface that oil would sometimes seep into ground. And drillers in search of water would sometimes strike oil by accident.
Early explorer of the Allegheny and its tributes tell of springs and streams the surface of which were found covered with a thick oily substance which burned fiercely when ignited and which the Indians believed to have curative properties.
Naturally the first use made of the oil obtained in qualities from the salt wells was medicinal.
The great revolution occurred in Pennsylvania in 1859, when Edwin Drake first succeeded in extracting oil from its rocky underground prison with a drilling machine.
In August 28, 1859, Drake succeed ins striking oil with the new method of extraction.
His discovery quickly led to the world’s first oil boom. The oil that Drake had uncovered was large and rich, and although his first well was not so productive when measured in barrels produced.
In 1878, the invention of the oil stove was to have an important effect on the petroleum industry, the stove became a commercial success following the World Fair in Pairs, leading to a sharp increase in the demand for fuel oil.
Early History of oil
