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First kerosine lamp

Jan. 31, 2000

In your Petroleum in the 21st Century issue (OGJ, Dec. 13, 1999), I found a list (see table of contents) of milestones of important events and achievements in the oil industry.

I would like to call to your attention that there are no remarks on the Polish oil industry.

The day July 13, 1853, is a symbolic date not only for the Polish oil industry. On that day the first kerosine lamp was lit in the municipal hospital in Lwow by Polish inventor Ignacy Lukasiewicz. This moment was preceded by his earlier experiments on oil distillation. He also developed the first commercial oil production from shallow wells in subsequent years. In 1856 he established the first oil distillation plant in Ulaszowice.

Statistics for 1874 show output in Poland's Carpathian Mountain region that year was 148,153 bbl (20,297 tonnes). Maximum production occurred in 1909, over 14.6 million bbl (2 million tonnes).

I am conscious of the importance of North American contributions to the development of petroleum geology and technology; but, especially in these early years, other pioneers also existed. I cite two sources (not Polish): (1) V. Uhlig, 1883, Beitrage zur Geologie der westgalizischen Karpathen, Jahrbuch Geologische Reichanstalt, Vol. 33; and (2) C. Engler, 1909, Das Erdoel, Leipzig.