Oil Well Workers Adding Drilling Pipe Seminole Oil Field 1939

In August 1939, workers engage in drilling operations at an oil well in the Seminole oil field, Oklahoma. They attach a length of drilling pipe while using clamps and wrenches to manage the equipment. Mud spurts as sections detach, and the traveling block connects to the pipe via a winch-operated rope. Drilling operations typically took twenty to thirty seconds. This image illustrates the methods and work conditions in Oklahoma’s oil industry during that era.

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