![]() ![]() The gas was burned to evaporate brine and produce salt. They had depths of up to about 800 feet (240 m) and were drilled using bits attached to bamboo poles. The earliest known gas wells were drilled in China in AD 347 or earlier. Han dynasty period bronze oil Lamp in Luoyang Museum, Henan, China In addition, the Chinese were the first to use petroleum as fuel as early as the fourth century BC. In I Ching, one of the earliest Chinese writings cites the use of oil in its raw state without refining was first discovered, extracted, and used in China in the first century BC. ![]() ![]() In China, petroleum was used more than 2000 years ago. Also, Herodotus described a well for bitumen (very thick oil) and oil near Ardericca in Cessia. Herodotus mentioned pitch spring on Zacynthus ( Ionian islands, Greece). This fact was confirmed by Diodorus Siculus. Great quantities of it were found on the banks of the river Issus, one of the tributaries of the Euphrates. In the early 21st century environmental issues regarding global warming from oil and gas (in addition to coal) makes the industry politically controversial.Īccording to Herodotus, more than four thousand years ago natural asphalt was employed in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon. In the 20th century issues of air pollution led to government regulation. The concern of oil being run out has brought new developments to light such as commercial-scale fracking and the increasing usage of cleaner energy. After the dominance of coal waned in the mid-1950s, oil received significant media coverage and its importance on modern economies increased greatly, being a major factor in several energy crises. When diesel fuel replaced steam engines in warships, control of oil supplies became a factor in military strategy-and played a key role in World War II. The use of the internal combustion engine for automobiles and trucks in the turn of the 20th century was a critical factor in the explosive growth of the industry in the United States, Europe, Middle East and later the rest of the world. Together, these two countries produced 97% of the world's oil over the course of the nineteenth century. While petroleum industries developed in several countries during the nineteenth century, the two giants were the United States and the Russian Empire, specifically that part of it that today forms the territory of independent Azerbaijan. The world's first refineries and modern oil wells were established in the mid-19th century. James Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage when he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a thicker oil suitable for lubricating machinery. Abraham Gesner developed a process to refine a liquid fuel (which he would later call kerosene) from coal, bitumen and oil shale it burned more cleanly and was cheaper than whale oil. One of the earliest instances of this is the refining of paraffin from crude oil. Petroleum's status as a key component of politics, society, and technology has its roots in the coal and kerosene industry of the late 19th century. While the local use of oil goes back many centuries, the modern petroleum industry along with its outputs and modern applications are of a recent origin. Picture from the Athabasca River, Alberta, Canada in 1898. Aspect of history One of the early generations of oil drilling infrastructure. ![]()
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