<P> `` Barely seven years after Edwin L. Drake drilled the world 's first oil well in 1859 at Titusville , Pennsylvania , USA , history registered another exploration of the black liquid gold , in the largest continent . More than a century ago , history was made in a remote corner of Assam in the midst of the dense and malaria infested jungles , by a band of intrepid pioneers searching for black gold . In 1867 Italian Engineers , commissioned by the Assam Railways and Trading Company , to build a railway line from Dibrugarh to Margherita ( Headquarters of Assam Railways and Trading Company ) accidentally discovered oil at Digboi around 10 miles from Margherita . ' Dig boy , dig ' , shouted the English engineer , Mr WL Lake , elephants emerging out of the dense forest with oil stains on their feet '' . This is possibly the most distilled -- though fanciful -- version of the legend explaining the siting and naming of Digboi . Two events separated by seven years have become fused , but although neither is likely to be provable , such evidence that does exist appears sufficiently detailed to be credible . Various web sites offer variations on the elephant 's foot story , a consensus of which would be that engineers extending the Dibru - Sadiya railway line to Ledo for the Assam Railways and Trading Company ( AR&TC ) in 1882 were using elephants for haulage and noticed that the mud on one pachyderm 's feet smelled of oil . Retracing the trail of footprints , they found oil seeping to the surface . One of the engineers , the Englishman Willie Leova Lake , was an ' oil enthusiast ' and persuaded the company to drill a well . Oil India Ltd makes no reference to elephants ' feet in its company history , although on its previous web site the company noted that Lake had noticed `` the oil seepages around Borbhil '' . Once the project had been approved , Lake assembled equipment , boilers , and local labour , and engaged elephants to haul the machinery to the site . The first well was started in September 1889 , but an encouraging first strike at 178 feet ( 54 m ) turned out to be a small pocket , and drilling recommenced . This continued until November 1890 when the well was completed at a total depth of 662 feet ( 202 m ) , and it was during this extended period of drilling that Oil India 's old web site placed the legend of Lake exhorting one or more of his labourers to `` Dig , boy ! '' </P>
<P> `` Barely seven years after Edwin L. Drake drilled the world 's first oil well in 1859 at Titusville , Pennsylvania , USA , history registered another exploration of the black liquid gold , in the largest continent . More than a century ago , history was made in a remote corner of Assam in the midst of the dense and malaria infested jungles , by a band of intrepid pioneers searching for black gold . In 1867 Italian Engineers , commissioned by the Assam Railways and Trading Company , to build a railway line from Dibrugarh to Margherita ( Headquarters of Assam Railways and Trading Company ) accidentally discovered oil at Digboi around 10 miles from Margherita . ' Dig boy , dig ' , shouted the English engineer , Mr WL Lake , elephants emerging out of the dense forest with oil stains on their feet '' . This is possibly the most distilled -- though fanciful -- version of the legend explaining the siting and naming of Digboi . Two events separated by seven years have become fused , but although neither is likely to be provable , such evidence that does exist appears sufficiently detailed to be credible . Various web sites offer variations on the elephant 's foot story , a consensus of which would be that engineers extending the Dibru - Sadiya railway line to Ledo for the Assam Railways and Trading Company ( AR&TC ) in 1882 were using elephants for haulage and noticed that the mud on one pachyderm 's feet smelled of oil . Retracing the trail of footprints , they found oil seeping to the surface . One of the engineers , the Englishman Willie Leova Lake , was an ' oil enthusiast ' and persuaded the company to drill a well . Oil India Ltd makes no reference to elephants ' feet in its company history , although on its previous web site the company noted that Lake had noticed `` the oil seepages around Borbhil '' . Once the project had been approved , Lake assembled equipment , boilers , and local labour , and engaged elephants to haul the machinery to the site . The first well was started in September 1889 , but an encouraging first strike at 178 feet ( 54 m ) turned out to be a small pocket , and drilling recommenced . This continued until November 1890 when the well was completed at a total depth of 662 feet ( 202 m ) , and it was during this extended period of drilling that Oil India 's old web site placed the legend of Lake exhorting one or more of his labourers to `` Dig , boy ! '' </P>
who discover the occurrence of oil in assam
who discover the occurrence of oil in assam
Italian Engineers
Italian Engineers