Aluminum A 7000-foot rig drilled 10,000 feet of hole with this string of drill pipe made of aluminum. Shell Oil Company tested the lightweight metal on a rig south of Houston at Yorktown, Texas. The pipe, shown here stacked in the hay-rake, weighs less than one-half the conventional steel drill stem. Special tool joints were needed, but the draw works and other equipment were standard. Hole Drilled With Aluminum Pipe on Shell Oil Rig, Texas

Photo is dated 1960.

Photo measures 8 x 10 inches.