Oil wells and their bond with human beings date back to the 4th century B.C. At this time, the Chinese were using oil for various purposes. They used oil for lighting lamps as well as for a lubricant. Mainly, this wonder substance was used for these purposes only. But there were some other places where the oil was also used. Oil was also used in ships for caulking, for blocking or sealing any holes in the ship to make it waterproof.

Before the drilling of oil wells became a common practice, oil was obtained from one type of sea animals known today as whales. People used to hunt these animals and extract the oil from the whales. But later on, many governments all around the globe opposed this because the whale population was on the verge of extinction. In the year 1848 in modern-day Azerbaijan, oil exploration as it is known today was considered serious, and before long a few oil wells were found.

Once the process of finding oil wells started, it became a successful venture, and many businesses started pouring in to this exciting new industry. Many oil wells were first drilled in Russia, and because of this reason, the country was once considered as the largest country which produces oil. In the 20th century, it was Russia which had the largest number of oil wells. This nation alone used to produce half of the oil which was produced by the whole world.
In 1859 the first oil well was built in the US in Titusville, Pennsylvania. These early US oil wells were a huge success. The reason behind the success was that the Americans were lucky to find oil in abundance in their vast lands. This resulted in a booming new industry as the drilling of oil wells started nationwide. The number of oil wells increased at such a rapid pace in the US that Russia was soon left behind. In the year 1925, the US took over Russia’s place by becoming the largest oil producing country worldwide.

Oil helped society by converting to a byproduct which was used in lamps for illumination. This byproduct is known as kerosene. In 1947, another major development took place in the process of drilling oil wells. Before this year, oil wells were drilled only on land, but in 1947 the first offshore oil wells were founded. The first offshore oil well was found in the Gulf of Mexico. This set the standard for future oil production in different parts of the world. Ever since, people have found many places where oil can be found, and have put it to a proper use accordingly.

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