History of the Oil Industry

The oil industry began over five thousand years ago. In the Middle East, oil seeping up through the ground was used in waterproofing boats and baskets, in paints, lighting and even for medication. Whale oil has been used in more recent times as a source of light. However, the high premium for whale oil decimated whale populations and as their numbers dropped the prices rose further.
The demand for oil was then far higher than the supply. Many companies and individuals were looking for an alternative and longer lasting source of what would later become known as black gold. Apart from a brief period of coal oil, the answer came with the development of drilling for crude oil. Land oil wells were first and as demand continued to grow exploration companies began to look below the sea bed.
The first oil well structures to be built in open waters were in the Gulf of Mexico. They were in water depths of up to 100m and constructed of a piled jacket formation, in which a framed template has piles driven through it to pin the structure to the sea bed. To this, a support frame was added the working parts of the rig such as the deck and accommodation. These structures were the fore-runners for the massive platforms that now stand in very deep water and in many locations around the world.
Clues around the coast of Greenland gave Geologists the idea that there may be oil and gas around Scottish waters. There have been land oil wells in Europe since the 1920s. It wasn't until the 1960s that exploration in the North Sea really begun, without success in the early years. They finally struck oil in 1969 and have been discovering new fields ever since. The subsequent development of the North Sea is one of the greatest investment projects in the world. The development of the offshore oil industry in hostile waters has been made possible by many achievements comparable with the space industry. Many fields are located far from land and they are getting further away. New fields are being explored in ever deeper and wilder waters.
After the North Sea UK disaster in 1988 when on 6 July, the North Sea Piper Alpha oil platform caught fire and exploded killing 167 of the 228 on board. The industry and the UK government waited until 1990 for the publication of the Cullen report. Lord Cullen discovered that the main cause of the explosion was the failure in the operation of the permit to work system, for which there are now very strict guidelines. This system is used to over-see work, preventing potentially dangerous work being carried out. It also prevents dangerously conflicting work being carried out by a combination of workers and it ensures that proper laid down procedures are adhered to.
Today the industry is very safety conscious. It has to be for its very survival. For example, the safety record of an exploration rig can make a big difference to whether or not an oil company will want to hire it. Oil companies cannot afford to have their name associated with accidents.