How Oil Drilling Works On Discovery’s Dirty Jobs

In 2008 alone, the United States produced an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil per day and imported 9.8 million barrels per day from other countries [source: US Energy Information Administration]. This oil gets refined into gasoline, kerosene, heating oil and other products. To keep up with our consumption, oil companies must constantly look for new sources of petroleum, as well as improve the production of existing wells. How does a company go about finding oil and pumping it from the ground? You may have seen images of black crude oil gushing out of the ground, or seen an oil well in movies and television shows like “Giant,” “Oklahoma Crude,” “Armageddon” and “Beverly Hillbillies.” But modern oil production is quite different from the way it’s portrayed in the movies. Source of video: science.howstuffworks.com Video Rights: dsc.discovery.com DIRTY JOBS profiles the unsung American laborers who make their living in the most unthinkable — yet vital — ways. Our brave host and apprentice Mike Rowe introduces you to a hardworking group of men and women who overcome fear, danger and sometimes stench and overall ickiness to accomplish their daily tasks.