When it comes to the evolution of drills, the history of oils must be included, as their development and evolution throughout the years go hand in hand. Here, we explore some of the significant changes or events that have led to the technology of heavy drill rigs that we have today.

In the years 1850 – 1900

In 1859, oil started becoming a commercial product after a drill rig hit oil reservoir in Pennsylvania. Previously, oil was only found as a by-product of salt drilling and the amount produced was not enough to be commercialized.

The drill rigs that were used in that time period were all made of wood. It did not take long to be built, but they proved to be quite impractical afterwards. The rigs could not be easily moved, so their success in finding oil was a hit-or-miss. They were also quite dangerous because they were flammable.

During this time, most of the rigs used cable tools that repeatedly hit the ground to make the holes. Soon after, rotary drill bits that were far more efficient and capable of drilling deeper than the cable tools were created.

In the years 1900 – 1950

The U.S oil market started to bloom in 1901 in Beaumont, Texas, when a drill rig hit a jackpot of oil reservoirs, causing oils to gush out of the ground. Beaumont’s population tripled within three months of the incident. About one and a half thousand new oil companies were created in just the following year, as the use of oil as fuel started becoming widespread. In World War I, the demand for oil and oil products soared and production increased to keep up. The need for high-volume production pushed the innovation of drill rigs technology.

The problematic wooden frames were replaced with iron and steel. In 1924, the blowout preventer (BOP) was invented to prevent incidents like the one in 1901 to be repeated. In the beginning of World War II, new drill bit models were introduced, and experimental horizontal drilling were carried out as attempts to improve efficiency further. A new drilling era started with the opening of the first offshore rig in 1947.

In the year 1950 – 2000

In the 1950s, steam power was traded for combustion engines in powering the rigs. The 1970s improved it even further by placing on-site generators that could power various parts of the rig. In the same decade, new technologies that increase effectiveness were also invented. They let drill operators locate drill bits underground and measure accurately while drilling.

These developments were taken further in the 1980s, which resulted in steerable drilling systems. In 1997, a system combining accurate steerable drilling and rotation maintenance was created. This allowed a more accurate and efficient drilling operations.

In the years 2000 – Present

As new technologies emerged, recent developments such as touch screens and joysticks were integrated into drilling systems, resulting in a more user-friendly and more accurate controls for the drill operators. In 2006, horizontal pad drilling successfully multiplied efficiency and reduced environmental impact of oil drilling. The technique uses only one rig to drill multiple wellheads, unlike previous techniques where a single rig was used for each wellhead.

Drill rigs development is still ongoing, with the last addition being hydraulic “legs” were used to move rigs across a pad. This overcame a major problem of earlier rigs that needed to be taken apart and rebuilt every time they needed to be moved.

Our modern steerable, movable rigs had come a long way from being the wooden rigs they used to be. Efficiency, safety, and effectiveness has been improved each step of the way, while environmental impact was minimized.