Oil Drilling

Oil or petroleum (also known as crude oil) is a fossil fuel found largely in vast underground deposits. Oil and its byproducts (natural gas, gasoline, kerosene, asphalt, and fuel oil, among others) did not have any real economic value until the middle of the nineteenth century when drilling was first used as a method to obtain it. Today, oil is produced on every continent but Antarctica. Despite increasingly sophisticated methods of locating possible deposits and improved removal techniques, oil is still obtained by drilling.

History

Oil was known in the ancient world and had several uses. Usually found bubbling up to Earth's surface at what are called oil seeps, oil was used primarily for lighting, as a lubricant, for caulking ships (making them...

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