BEHIND THE OIL CARGO

Dating to 1936 and produced by the Union Oil Company of California aka Unocal, "Behind the Oil Cargo" is a silent film that shows some of the field operations of the petroleum industry. It shows the first oil wells; principles of "Cable Tool" and "Kotary" systems of drilling; Footage shows field operations of the industry including images of early oil wells, a discussion on the principles of the “cable tool”, “rotary” systems and tunneling methods of extraction, separation of natural gasoline from natural gas and subsequent use of the gas to "lift" oil from low-pressure wells.The film begins with human civilization’s relationship with petroleum and the progression of oil extraction methods beginning with innovations put forth by Edwin Drake, Thomas R. Bard, D.C. Scott and C.A. Mentre. It shows the rise of the petroleum industry on the east and west coast sparked by the first successful oil wells leading to the oil rush and commercial oil industry. Footage includes images of early portable drilling machines, the Ojai California oilfield, the Ojai number 9 well and Pico Canyon. It tours operations of an Adams Canyon pump house. The conclusion explores how the industry met consumer’s increasing needs for petroleum products through the transition from slow, clunky cable tool methods into rotary drilling. It continues to break down the process of construction for steel derricks using concrete foundations.

00:00 “Behind the Oil Cargo” opens with early oil drilling methods (:25) including equipment resembling those used by Edwin Drake, a man attributed with starting commercial oil drilling in the US. Rigs were made of wood and used a cable tool drilling method. The cable had a chisel like bit. A portable rig follows (:34). A number of these were already on the market by this time including Linden B. Wolfe’s Wolfe rig. Early pioneers too poor to purchase machinery used spring pole devices to sink their wells (:38). An example follows (:51). Thomas R. Bard and D.C. Scott’s Ventura, California endeavors are mentioned (1:04). In 1865, Bard set out to develop his Uncle Thomas A Scott’s property and by 1867, a well known as Ojai 6 began flowing crude oil at 15/20 barrels daily becoming California’s first successful oil well. Ojai oil field (1:14) and the Ojai 6 well follow (1:28). A field worker checks an oil sample (1:48). Brothers Leland and Josiah Stanford developed a tunneling method for oil extraction in California. An example follows (2:11). C.A. Mentre’s spring pole drilling outfit in Pico Canyon ended a brief lag in oil operations in 1875 (2:20) at the same site where Lyman Stewart and W.L. Hardison drilled their first wells in 1883. Aerial shots capture Pico Canyon (2:38) and the site and rig (3:18). A worker operates machinery atop the Adam’s Canyon pump house (3:29). The jack line is highlighted (3:44). A section begins to dig into the transition away from the cable tool method of drilling (4:11) beginning with an explanation on this method including diagram and actual footage of the surface operations. Workers are pictured with a rig using the cable tool method (4:35). Diagrams explore how rock formations are broken down (4:54) through pressure and the tension of a cable and a rotating bit (5:22). Animation (6:03) shows how bailers remove excess cuttings. A worker adjusts cables (6:18) and the bit (6:32) before dropping it back down. A valve opens on the surface (7:24). Water pressure is released (7:31). Rotary drilling was common by the 1930’s. The base of a rotary drill follows (8:01). Animation depicts underground operations (8:16). This leads to the construction of a 124 foot derrick with a concrete foundation. Workers dump concrete into the foundation of a derrick (8:32) and bolt steel sections together (8:53). Cranes lift steel pieces (9:13) as the first sections are bolted into place. The completed derrick concludes the film (10:29).