https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/272ec9a9-e1c4-45c4-8b18-c91ba8653d57 Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCddem5RlB3bQe99wyY49g0g/join Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Visit our website www.PeriscopeFilm.com View our Amazon store here: https://amzn.to/3XQHsVD Produced by George Pal, "Birth of An Oil Field" was directed by Duke Goldstone and released in 1949 by the Shell Oil Co. This film offers a comprehensive overview of the oil drilling and production process, beginning with a philosophical reflection on time and how rapidly the world consumes oil. It explores the origins of oil drilling, from ancient Chinese methods to modern rotary drilling capable of reaching extreme depths. The process of drilling is explained in detail, including the use of specialized mud, changing drill bits, and handling complications like broken drill strings. Once oil is located, techniques like core sampling, electric logging, cementing, and perforation are used to access and evaluate the reservoir. Successful wells lead to broader production operations, where engineers manage oil flow using natural pressures (gas or water) or artificial methods like repressurization. The film then explains how crude oil is processed—separating gas, water, and oil—before it’s sent to refineries. It ends by highlighting the vast infrastructure, manpower, and innovation that support the industry, and how petroleum continues to fuel modern life and future possibilities. 0:00– Introduction and main titles 1:04 – Emphasis on time's passing: 86,400 seconds in a day, and how oil consumption correlates with human activity. 2:06 – Oil's global presence is highlighted—coming from across the U.S. and 50 countries to meet demand. 2:41 – The oil industry employs millions, requiring significant manpower and infrastructure. 3:03 – The idea of drilling for oil began less than a century ago, evolving from ancient methods like Chinese salt drilling. 4:02 – Overview of early drilling (cable-tool) vs. modern rotary drilling, which enables deep drilling comparable to the height of 15 Empire State Buildings. 4:48 – Rotary drilling process starts: erection of derrick and rig, involving major investments with only a 1-in-9 chance of finding oil. 5:39 – Drilling begins with the rotary table, kelly, and pipe string; depth increases by adding 30-foot drill pipe sections. 6:32 – Special "mud" is used in drilling to cool, lubricate, and stabilize the well. 7:38 – Encountering harder rock prompts a bit change, requiring the crew to pull out and replace the drill string. 8:53 – The team works with precision to disassemble and reassemble the heavy drill string. 10:01 – Drilling resumes at greater depths, encountering harder formations and eventually technical problems. 10:53 – A drill string breaks, prompting "fishing" operations to recover it—a time-consuming process. 12:00 – Decision made to bypass the broken string via directional (whipstock) drilling. 13:00 – Core samples are retrieved and analyzed—initial results are mostly water-bearing. 13:52 – Electric logging tools help assess formations, which look promising. Cementing begins to seal the casing. 14:51 – Gun perforator is fired to allow oil to enter the casing. A "Christmas tree" (valve system) is installed. 15:38 – Oil finally flows: a successful strike and the birth of an oil field. 16:17 – The continuous job of expanding production begins: drilling additional wells, installing equipment, building infrastructure. 17:00 – Introduction to the production engineer, whose role is to maximize oil recovery efficiently. 18:00 – Explanation of how oil flows to the surface via natural pressure—gas, water, or both. 19:01 – Analogy of a siphon bottle used to illustrate gas pressure driving oil to the surface. 20:28 – Natural pressure eventually declines, leading to artificial methods like gas or water injection for repressurization. 21:01 – Water flooding is another enhanced recovery method. 21:58 – Modern oil fields. 23:01 – Oil is sent to refineries. 24:00 – Natural gas products like propane and butane are extracted; dry gas is sent to utility companies. 24:45 – Clean oil is stored in tanks, sampled, tested, and pumped to refineries. 25:35 – Summary of the production cycle and its benefits: land royalties, community development, energy for society. 26:32 – The future of petroleum lies in ongoing research and innovation. If you have endangered films you'd like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPUC-GDfYO8 Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:18:48 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/272ec9a9-e1c4-45c4-8b18-c91ba8653d57 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.