The use of oil from petroleum for artificial lighting was oil’s springboard to fame. As early as the 15th century, oil from surface wells was used in lamps in Baku, today’s capital of Azerbaijan. In 1650, shallow oil reservoirs were dug in Romania, where oil, in the form of kerosene, was used for lighting. By the mid-19th century, that country and others in Eastern Europe already had a prosperous oil industry.

In the United States, it was mainly the search for a high-quality illuminant in the 1800’s that made a group of men direct their efforts toward oil. These men rightly concluded that in order to produce enough kerosene to supply the market, they would have to drill for oil. So in 1859 an oil well was successfully drilled in Pennsylvania. The oil fever had begun.

Oil​—How Do We Get It?

“LET there be light.” In the United States in the 19th century, a new source of artificial light was needed to replace the inconveniences of flickering light produced by fats, whale oil, and other substances. What was the solution? Oil! Where could it be found?

In 1859, Edwin L. Drake, a retired railroad conductor, using an old steam engine, drilled a well 70 feet [22 meters] deep to the first crude oil discovered near Titusville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. That marked the beginning of the oil era. As oil was discovered in many parts of the world, it caused great economic and political repercussions. It proved to be the high-quality source of artificial light that the world eagerly awaited.