Mining for crude petroleum had predated the Pennsylvania oil well of Edwin Drake. Today, in the Soviet Union and in the U. S. mining techniques are sometimes used for the recovery of crude oil. Interest in tunnelling techniques for the recovery of petroleum remains active, primarily in whether wells can be safely drilled, produced, and worked over from underground locations in tunnels, which can
... [Show full abstract] be practically and economically constructed. One solution is to drill from the surface, in part or in whole, and to intercept the wells with subsequently driven tunnels, within which appropriate production facilities may be located. Refs.