<P> On August 28 , 1859 , George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well drilled especially to produce oil , at a site on Oil Creek near Titusville , Pennsylvania . The Drake partners were encouraged by Benjamin Silliman ( 1779 - 1864 ) , a chemistry professor at Yale , who tested a sample of the oil , and assured them that it could be distilled into useful products such as illuminating oil . </P>
<P> On August 28 , 1859 , George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well drilled especially to produce oil , at a site on Oil Creek near Titusville , Pennsylvania . The Drake partners were encouraged by Benjamin Silliman ( 1779 - 1864 ) , a chemistry professor at Yale , who tested a sample of the oil , and assured them that it could be distilled into useful products such as illuminating oil . </P>
where was the first excavation of oil done
where was the first excavation of oil done
August 28 , 1859
August 28 , 1859