<P> The American Merrimac Oil Company drilled an early oil well at La Brea at Trinidad and Tobago in 1857 , where oil was struck at 280 feet ( 85 m ) . Also mentioned is the pioneering work of Capt . Darwent with his Paria Petroleum Company Limited , and Conrad F. Stollmeyer ( who was great grandfather of Republic Bank 's then Chairman , former West Indies cricket captain , Jeffrey Stollmeyer ) , an entrepreneur of that period who felt that a combustible fuel could not be distilled out of the asphalt from the pitch lake . The other point of view from Capt . Darwent was that a combustible fuel , refined from oil drilled from the earth would be the ideal fuel for the future . '' </P>
<P> The American Merrimac Oil Company drilled an early oil well at La Brea at Trinidad and Tobago in 1857 , where oil was struck at 280 feet ( 85 m ) . Also mentioned is the pioneering work of Capt . Darwent with his Paria Petroleum Company Limited , and Conrad F. Stollmeyer ( who was great grandfather of Republic Bank 's then Chairman , former West Indies cricket captain , Jeffrey Stollmeyer ) , an entrepreneur of that period who felt that a combustible fuel could not be distilled out of the asphalt from the pitch lake . The other point of view from Capt . Darwent was that a combustible fuel , refined from oil drilled from the earth would be the ideal fuel for the future . '' </P>
when was oil discovered in trinidad and tobago
when was oil discovered in trinidad and tobago
1857
1857