History of oil and gas: First discoveries

Oil and gas had been utilized in some form for thousands of years before the
modern era, such as lamps or as a building material, with the first documented oil
wells being sunk in China in 347 AD.
The modern oil and gas business began in 1847 when Scottish chemist James
Young achieved a breakthrough. He discovered natural petroleum seepage in the
Riddings coal mine and distilled both a light, thin oil for lights and a heavier oil for
lubrication from this seepage.
Young continued to experiment with coal after these successful distillations and
distill a variety of liquids, including an early version of petroleum. In 1850, they
patented these oils and paraffin wax, also derived from coal, and formed a
partnership with geologist Edward William Binney later that year.
The partners established the world's first commercial oil refinery and oil works,
producing oil and paraffin wax from locally mined coal.
In the nineteenth century, Young wasn't the only scientist who made findings of
coal. Abraham Pineo Gesner, a Canadian geologist, refined a liquid from coal, oil
shale, and bitumen in 1846 that was both cheaper and cleaner to burn than other
oils. In 1850, he formed the Kerosene Gaslight Company, which used the oil to
light the streets of Halifax and eventually the United States.

The first modern wells

New enterprises sprang up due to these early findings, with the coal industry now
attempting to replicate Young and Gesner's oils.
In 1852, Polish engineer Ignacy ukasiewicz modified Gesner's process to make
kerosene and petroleum more easily distillable, and in 1854, he opened the first
"rock oil" mine in Bóbrka, Poland.
In the village of La Brea, Trinidad, the first oil well was drilled in 1857. The
American Merrimac Company drilled it to a depth of 280 feet.
Edwin Drake drilled the first modern oil well in America in Titusville, Pennsylvania,
in 1859. The discovery of petroleum at Titusville sparked Pennsylvania's oil rush,'
turning oil into one of America's most valuable commodities.

Big Oil
Major oil firms emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and they still
dominate the oil and gas business today.
In 1865, John D. Rockefeller established the Standard Oil Company, making him
the first oil baron. Standard Oil became Ohio's most lucrative company swiftly,
holding almost 90% of the country's refining capacity as well as several collection
systems and pipelines. After Standard collapsed in 1911, one of its descendants,
ExxonMobil, is now the ninth-largest firm by revenue.
To expand their oil activities and reach more abroad consumers, the Rothschild
family commissioned oil ships from British dealer Marcus Samuel in Russia. The
Murex, named after a sea snail, was Samuel's first vessel, and it was the first oil
tanker to transit through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea
and the Red Sea.
The Murex was the flagship ship of Shell Transport and Trading, which combined
with Royal Dutch Petroleum to form Royal Dutch Shell. Royal Dutch Shell is now
the world's fifth-largest company and one of six oil and gas supermajors.
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was founded in 1907 when William Knox
D'Arcy discovered Oil near Masjed Soleyman, Iran. In 1914, the British
government bought 51 percent of the corporation to supply Oil to the Royal Navy.
In 1954, APOC changed its name to British Petroleum; now, it's the sixth-largest
oil and gas firm.

The Modern Era

In the late twentieth century, changes in the oil market shifted influence from oil-
consuming areas like the United States and Europe to oil-producing countries.
In reaction to corporations such as ExxonMobil – at the time split into Esso and
Mobil – Shell and BP, which operated from oil-consuming countries, Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia created the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1960.
OPEC now comprises 15 member countries, which account for roughly 44% of
global oil output and 81.5 percent of international oil reserves.
Following the 1970 energy crisis, there was a considerable oil oversupply in the
1980s. Petroleum production peaked in the 1970s, resulting in a dramatic spike in
oil prices and a drop in demand.
Oil-producing countries suffered due to the glut, with OPEC struggling to keep oil
prices high by reducing production. Part of the Soviet Union's demise can be
ascribed to a loss of influence as an oil producer.
The excess lasted six years, with oil prices gradually rebounding in 1986, but a
new oil surplus began in 2014 and is still impacting global oil prices.
Despite competition from renewable energy sources, the oil and gas business is
growing today but in a more volatile position than ever due to global events.