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Major Aleveev drills the world's first oil well at Baku, Azerbaijan using a primitive cable-tool drilling technique which originated in ancient China.
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Oil was first discovered in US when a homemade rig drilled down 70 feet and came up coated with oil. This rig was near Titusville and was owned by "Colonel" Edwin L. Drake.
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The first successful oil tanker, the Zoroaster, designed by Ludvig Nobel of Sweden introduced. It was designed to navigate the challenges of the Caspian Sea and ran between Baku, Azerbaijan and Astrakhan, Russia.
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Hughes and Sharp patente the first roller cone drill bit with two cones made of steel
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H. John Eastman introduces controlled directional drilling.
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Hughes introduces the first tricone roller-cone drill bit.
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The first offshore drilling operation, the Brenton Rig 20 it drills up to twenty feet of water.
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First semisubmersible drilling rig (Blue Water and Shell)
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Bright-spot seismic technology used by Shell and Mobil to evaluate tracts offered at Gulf Of Mexico lease sale.
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First pipelay barges with 1,000-ft capability (Viking Piper and ETPM 1601).
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First guyed tower installed, significantly reducing the construction cost of platforms for use in water depths approaching 2,000 feet, compared with conventional fixed platforms (Exxon)
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Dual activity drillship, the Discoverer Eneterprise introduced. Specially designed to perform two drilling operations, including drilling, testing, and completing wells to 35,000 ft in water depths up to 10,000 feet, this new type of drillship was revolutinary.