July 2013, Vol. 240 No. 7
Features
The Many Phases Of Multiphase Flow Meters
The history of oil well drilling goes back to 1859 to a farm in northwestern Pennsylvania. The farm was located in Titusville, near Erie. Edwin Drake and George Bissell cooperated to drill the world’s first oil well. While Drake is usually the one credited with drilling the first well, he did not have a good head for business and spent much of his life in poverty. Bissell, by contrast, became quite wealthy and outlived Drake by four years. Drake’s main contribution to the project was to introduce a pipe lining in the drill hole. He and Bissell cooperated to form the Seneca Oil Company with Drake as president. While drilling, they struck oil 69 feet below the ground.

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