Pump Jack a Texas icon is a photograph by Alexandra Till which was uploaded on August 5th, 2014.
Title
Pump Jack a Texas icon
Artist
Alexandra Till
Medium
Photograph - Photographs - Prints - Digital Images - Cards - Posters - Photo-calendars - Photo Art
Description
© Christine Till
People have been pumping oil for thousands of years, and, while there is some dispute as to the first modern oil well, its construction can be placed some time in the 1850s. The pump jack didn’t come onto the scene until almost 70 years later. However, the distinctive appearance of the pump jack has become iconic and these devices are often used as symbols of the oil and gas industry.
It was in a Texas oil field that the first modern-day pump jack drastically changed the face of drilling in 1925. The pumpjack, an oil field icon known by many names like oil horse, donkey pumper, nodding donkey, pumping unit, horsehead pump, rocking horse, beam pump, dinosaur, sucker rod pump (SRP), grasshopper pump, Big Texan, thirsty bird, or jack pump - consists of a long beam moved by an external power source. There are a lot of pumpjacks dotting the Texas landscape.
The evolution of technology for pumping oil from the ground is reflected in thousands of small, marginally producing oil wells reaching deep into often stubborn reserves. Marginal oil and natural gas wells number about 650,000 of the nation’s 876,000 wells. Once shutdown, they are lost forever. Keeping them in production has long been a challenge for a special breed of oilman, one who combines technical skills with hard work in the field.
Uploaded
August 5th, 2014
