it's found in only a few hills and valleys throughout the world mainly in the united states and canada and mexico in peru and venezuela in the balkans along the persian gulf and in the dock east indies over half the all that has been produced in the whole world which produced in the united states namely in the state of texas california sienna and oklahoma the story of howell is brought up from far down in the earth is exciting the product of oil or lowering the drill pipe into the well they swing another length into position and screw it to the top of the last length of pipe that was lowered the men use a large wrench called a tom to screw the length of pipe together the pipe is slowly lowered into the well by the large yellow pulley or block as a whole becomes deeper more length of pipe are added at the top they drill deep enough to find the oil deposits the men make frequent tests to find out which layer of rock or sand contains the most oil formerly oil drilling was a gamble many fortunes were made and lost it is still a hazardous occupation but with modern scientific methods for finding the oil and with the improved growing machinery there is a far greater chance for success when they drill bob asked why the men wear metal hats that's easy tools might be dropped accidentally by the men who work at the top of the d as a hole becomes deeper more drill pipes are added the piece of machinery that digs the hole at the bottom of the drill pipe is the bit jerry shows bob the bit the set of teeth turn round and round to dig a hole just like cause it is said that oil hunters never can be sure of a strike until a bit cut into the oil sand or oil rock noticed a large center hole mud and water are washed with great force from the top of the callee down the center of the pipes through this hole in the bit the water and mud clean off the teeth of the bit and contain chemicals that make the mud in the hole form a hard crust that seals up the hole this prevents cave ins and keeps the water and gas and the different layers of earth from pouring into the well and stopping it up notice how clean the engines are when the men have finished drilling a section of the well they build the permanent well to this depth the permanent well is made out of heavy pipes called casing thus they alternate the drilling and the laying of the permanent pipe the length of pipe are screwed together with the tongue in the same way that the grill pipes are screwed together men stepped back out of the way of the machinery to avoid accidents and now the large fire goes down just think sometimes these pipes go three miles down into the ground when they have finished drilling the wells they place a small pipe called tubing inside the heavy casing and this small pipe carries the oil to the surface at the bottom of the way old gas and rock pressure force the o l out of the sand and porous rock and into the tubing a high tower called a mast is used to lift the small tubing over the well the derrick man at the top of the mast passes the tubing in the block and swings it over the well the men screw the length of tubing together and signal a driller who runs the engine to lower it into the well when the well is drilled the pump will be put in position on top the long beach oil fields have produced millions of barrels of oil these pumps are modern and up to date they go up and down up and down perhaps bringing a fortune to the people who own the wells look like a roll of animals not me and yes the really is called the horses is the cross rod that goes up and down like a teeter totter is called a pony rod on the opposite side from the head is the counterbalance bob look at the oil pressure gauge it is watch carefully by the men who service the wells shows the men that the oil well is producing at this well a valuable oil is leaking in the repair crew must find the trouble there good mechanics and soon the well will be working no one knows exactly how oil is made i generally thought that plant and animal life buried far down in the earth that is to prehistoric seas was changed slowly into oil probably by pressure heat and the decaying of the tiny plant and animal life they say the texas tar greatest oil producing state literally rests on an ocean of oil the men paint the pumps often to protect them from dirt and water eric wears a mask so that he will not breathe the poison fumes from the pain the what gas that comes up with the oil sometimes is run off at the wells you can see the gas tanks are trapped at the wells and at the field storage tanks waste water also comes up with a o l and is removed at the field storage tanks these three boilers heat the oil so that it will float on top of the water and the men can remove the water from the bottom of the tanks here they all is pumped from the field tanks to the refineries with their huge storage tanks sometimes the crude oil is carried in pipes across several states to the refineries for example a pipeline carries oil from texas all the way to new york the crude oil also is carried to the refineries by train by ship and by tanker trucks crude oil must be changed at the refineries into the products we use wind is blowing a terrific gale and bob is amazed that the men can work high up in the dairy they're taking the derrick apart to move it to another location they unbolt the different sections lower each section separate men are skilled to work high up on the narrow beams oilmen must be strong to operate the heavy machinery they must think accurately in the midst of noise and confusion their very lives depend on each man's cooperating and doing part well the men walk on the narrow ledges as unconcernedly as if they were walking on the ground the pay in the oil fields is high and attract many smart and well educated men and now the ground crew pulled together to guard the heavy section as it is lowered slowly to the ground men who cannot keep up with the difficult work soon drift to other occupations the man on the truck operates the engine that runs the line they unscrewed the bolts on another section this well produces a large quantity of oil and the men will replace the old pump with a modern one and down comes another section they wind up the long lengths of line many different tools are used in drilling there are always kept in order ready for the next job there is a special place on the truck for each part of the machinery bob here's the fire engines better hurry what's that oil well burning just think right on the ocean beach thousands of dollars worth of oil burning up the men fear the whole oil field will catch fire and they're working desperately to prevent more l large fire trucks stand in line to take turns pouring chemicals on the flames the fire finally was put out by pouring water from the well next to it into the bottom of the well this meant the temporary loss of the other well what prevented the fire from spreading to the rest of the field coil is one of our most important natural resources and it is necessary to be careful of our supply and save it in every way we can bob understands now that there is great danger of fire in the oil industry every fire precaution is taken on the docks where the drums of oil are stored for shipment to the countries that need oil there are many large countries like france and germany that do not have oil and must ship it in from the oil producing countries england does not have oil but the british empire controls many of the foreign oil fields there is oil in canada the americans the english and the dutch have found and produced most of the oil in the world bob like to ask the oil man questions about here the longshoremen are loading a freighter bound for france oil is the largest export from the ports of long beach and los angeles they ship oil to oregon washington in the orient two hundred million dollars worth a year bob thinks the oil drums look like bright colored toys he would like to try to ride one of the rolling drums or drums are hoisted onto the ship at one time each load is counted twice first on the dock by a checker from the oil company and again on board by ships officer that's the companies buying and selling the oil both have a record of the oil shipped just think in one year the united states produces over three billion dollars worth of oil a circus performer that looks like a lot of fun bob a large tanker steamed into port today many hundreds of oil tankers carry all from wells to the markets of the world these large tankers carry around one hundred thirty thousand barrels of oil the tankers refuel from the large hoses on the docks the hoses swung on to the ship and the oil flows directly into the tanks in the ship the flow of oil is controlled by large valves on the ship and on the dock oil ships are built with rows of tanks on each side that's when the ship rolls the oil will not all shift to one side and capsize the ship down the center is the catwalk the crew can walk from the bottom of the stern without getting wet when the waves roll over the deck the cover is raised over one tank that is being filled the men watch the oil gauge to see when the tank is full oil companies maintain large plants with storage tanks at the docks a million men work in the oil industry in front of the freighter and oil barges loading these barges carry only oil to the ships often they refuel the ships at their own docks sometimes the barges refuel ships far out in the bay when a ship drops anchor in the harbor and refuels they're said to be at bunkers oil is pipe through the heavy hoses from the barge to the ship the ship does not have cargo or passengers for the port it saves time and money to refuel at bunkers across the channel bob sees a wrecked on oil tanker that burned at the dock it is too soon for the salvage crews to enter the ship because there is still in the home that might explode no one knows what caused the terrible explosion many were killed instantly others had to dive into the water covered with flaming oil and swim under water to safety just think one match thrown carelessly away could have caused this huge explosion we understand now why the ohio docks are built away from the mainland and why the refineries are built a way from the docks near his home bob likes to stop by the garage and watch the men work on the cars bill the mechanic tells the boys how to fix the broken or a line caused by a bad bump bob's friend works here after school and on saturdays which is a new as much as today about a car heavy check the oil and adds a quart of oil is mighty important in keeping an automobile running smoothly as gasoline it is needed as fuel for the engine and as greece for many purposes just as it is needed to keep the machinery running in our big industrial plants the silver towers that make the refineries look like castles really are places where the oil products are me the crude oil in the towers as he said by steam is piped to the top of the tower to different degrees of heat and pressure break up the crude oil into many different products or products to the top of the tower giant plants that make the things we need and use power to speed our modern trains ships airplanes and automobiles oil is a great industry supplying the needs of people throughout the world