Edwin Drake was the first American to drill for oil. Drake struck oil in 1859 in Titusville, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Drake pioneered methods still used in the modern day such as using a guide pipe which is 12” in diameter to shield the drilling rig from the well collapsing as well as the use of barrels to store oil. Drake pioneered the method of using barrels because he had nothing else other than old whiskey barrels to store the oil he had acquired once it came pouring out of the ground