Oil Exploration

Crude oil is usually located deep below the earth's surface, without any visible traces of being present.

In the early years of the oil industry, one could easily find small amounts of oil in the vicinity of the oil urinating drilling. "Oil Lakes" are small amounts of oil that come up on the surface or in water.

However, a well drilling is very expensive; Therefore, alternative methods have been sought in order to locate oil. Today, geologists determined using a range of techniques where oil could be found. They make use of include seismic and visual observation techniques to determine the geological formations could contain oil.

• Seismic surveys

this case a small amount of underground explosive is detonated. In addition, to be sensitive instruments used which register the shock waves moving across the ground and which are reflected by rock walls. On the basis of the speed and direction of the waves geologists can identify the type of rock formations, and to detect the types of which are known to oil or hydrocarbons (such as gas) may contain.

• Vibro-seismic survey

, with special vibrating trucks are used, which is a controlled signal to submit the bottom. Although this method is more complicated, it is often used in places where explosives can not be used for practical reasons.

• Geophysical research

, this method is used to measure the thickness of sediment and in order to map out the shape of the structures within the sediment. In this way, often underground structures could be located in the last 30 years where oil had gathered.

• Research based on aerial photographs

on the basis of aerial photos, maps can be established in which the main geological properties are shown of an area. The photos are also used to determine oil field pipelines and infrastructure very closely. This information is of great value for planning seismic surveys and other projects.

• Surface Research

Here, specific localized areas on the ground and it is determined their height. One of the tools used therewith, is a theodolite, which is equipped with a telescope that measurement angles horizontally and vertically.

• Gravity investigation

In this method, there is used a highly sensitive gravimeter, which is analyzed to gravity variations. These variations may indeed indicate hidden geological structures. The study is usually performed in an early stage of exploration. The researchers thereby identify areas that may be potentially interesting. At these zones is then carried out, a more detailed seismic survey.

Drilling for oil

When certain areas of potential interest are labeled, are drills used to dig wells. Seismic research shows that the best places to look for oil. In this way, the risk of finding dry wells ( "dry hole") is limited. They contain no oil.

A drill is guided straight into the ground. If the rig can not be drawn directly on the surface, it is placed next to it and is drilled at an angle. The horizontal drilling technology is used to drill into the portion of the source which horizontally through the oil (the "output section") passes along the path from the oil reservoir.

Oil Transport

Crude oil is transported by pipeline from the drilling rig to tank farms. Since the oil is stored in huge tanks. The crude oil is then transported by pipeline to a local refinery or an oil tanker to an overseas refinery.

Read More → Oil Exploration

Shale Gas

What is shale gas? If you regularly read the newspaper, watching the news or visit news websites, you may have heard of the term "shale gas". This term is more and more often in the news and politics is increasingly concerned with the gas. But what this gas is and where this gas in the Netherlands? More on this subject, refer to this article.

Shale Gas: a fossil fuel

Shale is a fossil fuel that occurs locally in the so-called oil shale. Oil shale is called shale, a rock that can be found underground. Many compare with shale gas, but shale gas is a very different fossil fuels. This is because these fossil fuels not call in connected or prevents fields, as is the case with natural gas, but rather occurs in porous rock beneath sealing layers. So here's shale gas trapped in tiny pores, making it very difficult to win this fuel.

Shale gas and natural gas: the main difference

Although shale gas and alike used as the fossil fuels above the ground, under the ground is a clear difference between the two gases. Thus, the drilling of natural gas a completely different process from drilling shale gas, because gas bubbles in contiguous or prevents fields and can be easily drilled. In shale gas, this is not the case, through which the gas with thousands of small drilling in a variety of directions out of the ground needs to be achieved. In short, natural gas is easy to pick up from the ground, but the extraction of shale gas is a complex and time consuming.

Read More → Shale Gas

Work on oil rig

Working on an oil rig? Work on oil rig is possible without a degree. Offshore companies offer excellent career opportunities. Any employee who works on an oil rig must be in good condition and can yield a high concentration for a long time. Working on an oil rig (offshore work) is different from working on land (onshore).

A working on an oil rig

A working on an oil rig is not a traditional working day of eight hours but usually 12 hours a day 7 days a week. To keep these twelve full hours are (usually) four breaks which can be eaten four times. After 12 hours of hard work is quite 12 hours. It is important to find a good rhythm of work and rest 12 hours to 12 hours in order to stay mentally and physically fit. The advice is to catch sleep at least 8 hours. About how workers on an oil rig rest can be read in the following paragraphs. There is no traditional workweek because we work seven days a week with no days off. The big advantage of working on an oil rig is also working a month are released after a month. Often, this is done on 4 weeks and off in a time period of 4 weeks. In the six months of active work there is "enough" money earned for the whole year. Incidentally, all expenses incurred covered by traveling through the employer. On the working conditions of offshore employers you do not have to worry. These are above average. The workday is long and quite heavy by the conditions of cold winds and very hot days. This cuts there if you have to work in these conditions for a long time. This is a good mental and physical condition required.

Work and rest

After working on the rig you have 12 hours of rest. It is important to sleep well in these 12 hours. Of course relaxation is also an important point. There are therefore affected in almost all oil rigs amenities. You can think of a common space with TV, computer, pool table and the like. The facilities on the rig are generally better hotels. So rigs also have sports facilities. Larger rigs even have a soccer field, basketball court, and the like. This makes working for a long time on an oil rig more pleasant. Important to know is that there is also very little privacy making work and life makes on an oil rig also mental strain. Can someone good with these conditions than working on an oil rig is a lucrative and interesting job with many career opportunities.

Read More → Work on oil rig

What are power plants?

What are power plants?

Power plants are buildings where electricity is generated by means of various types of fuel. What plants are there?

In power plants generated electricity we use in everyday life. The way this is done in recent years to change. The standard way of generating energy, takes place with the aid of a steam turbine. Fuel heating water, and the released steam is with great pressure pressed through a turbine. The turbine is thus put in motion that could generate an electricity generator. Electricity is then moved under high voltage power lines through. This is done to reduce energy loss as much as possible. Most power plants using fossil fuels (gas, coal, oil) works belong to this category. But nuclear power plants and biomass plants operate according to this principle.
power plants

Energy Loss

One of the disadvantages of conventional power plants is that the loss of energy, because the heated water (waste heat) is not used further. There are alternative power plants that are using this residual heat: thermal power plants. The residual heat is often used in district heating (also known as district heating.) Through hot water pipes are houses with the aid of the residual heat so that heated central-heating boilers are no longer needed. In the Netherlands, applies this method of heating in many neighborhoods far.

Alternative power plants

In addition to the conventional power plant, there are a number of alternative forms of power generation that are applied more and more often. Hydroelectric power using the power of running or falling water to generate power. The flow of the water converts in this case the turbine in motion. In a tidal power plant, the difference between high and low tide is used to generate electricity. In Oosterscheldedam make five turbines from 2015 using the tides. With geothermal power plants, we use geothermal energy to produce electricity. In countries with volcanoes, for example Iceland, this form of energy is very popular because geothermal energy is close to the surface. Yet deep geothermal also emerging in the Netherlands. The use of geothermal energy is mainly used as a renewable energy solution in horticulture. Wind and solar energy are typically generated without central. With solar panels which are mounted on the roofs of houses, the electricity generated can be used immediately. Yet there are power plants that use solar energy. For example, this can be done by means of a field of mirrors that are directed to a point in a tower. This makes it possible to generate a temperature of more than 1000 ° C. The heat can then simply run a steam turbine.

Read More → What are power plants?

9 Distinct Mud Systems

For mud to manage its many tasks, a broad range of different fluid systems have been developed. 9 distinct mud systems are defined here. 

The first seven are water-based, while the eighth is oil-based. The ninth category is a specialized one in which air or gas is the continuous fluid. 

The 9 categories are:

1. Non dispersed. These may consist of spud muds, natural muds and other lightly treated systemsgenerally used for shallow wells or top-hole drilling.

2. Dispersed. At greater depths or where hole-conditions may be problematic, muds are often dispersed, typically by means of lignosulphonates or other deflocculants. These and similar products are also effective filtrate reducers.

3. Calcium treated. Divalent cations such as calcium and magnesium, when added to a mud, inhibit the swelling of formation clays and shale, and are therefore added to control sloughing shale, hole enlargement and to prevent formation damage. Hydrated lime, gypsum (calcium sulphate) and calcium chloride are principal ingredients of calcium systems. Gyp systems (note: Gyp = gypsum) usually have a pH of 9.5 to 10.5 and an excess gyp concentration of 2 to 4 lb/ bbl; Lime systems have an excess lime concentration of 1 to 15 lb/bbl and a pH of 11.5 to 12.0.

4. Polymer. Muds incorporating long-chain, high-molecular-weight chemicals are effective in increasing viscosity, flocculating muds, reducing filtrate loss and stabilizing the formation. Various types of polymers are available for this purpose, including Bentonite extenders. Bio polymers and cross-linked polymers are also used and have good shear-thinning properties at low concentrations.

5. Low solids. This includes systems in which the amount and type of solids are controlled. Total solids should not range higher than about 6% to 10% by volume (and clay < 3% by volume). One primary advantage of low-solids systems is that they significantly improve the rate of penetration.

6. Saturated salt. Include several groups: Saturated salt systems have a chloride ion concentration of 189 000 ppm. Saltwater systems have a chloride content from 6 000 to 189 000 ppm, and at its lower level are usually referred to as brackish or seawater systems.

7. Workover. Completion and workover fluids are specialized systems designed to minimize formation damage, and be compatible with acidizing and fracturing operations (acid soluble) and capable of inhibiting swelling clays that reduce formation permeability. Density is obtained  through dissolved salt to avoid long term settling.

8. Oil/synthetic. Oil-based fluids are used for high temperature wells, deviated holes and wells where pipe sticking and hole stabilization is a problem.

 They consist of two types of systems:

1) Invert emulsion muds are water-in-oil fluids and have water as the dispersed phase and oil as the continuous phase. They may contain up to 50% water in the liquid phase. Emulsifier (commonly fatty acids amine derivatives, high-molecular-weight soaps), and water concentrations are varied to control rheological and electrical stability;

2) Synthetic fluids are designed to duplicate the performance of oil-based muds, without the environmental hazards. Primary types of synthetic fluids are esters, poly alpha olefins and food grade paraffin. They are environmentally friendly, can be discharged offshore and are non-sheening and biodegradable.

9. Air, mist, foam and gas. Four basic operations are included in this specialized category according

to the IADC. These include:

1) Dry air drilling, which involves injecting dry air or gas into the wellbore at rates capable of achieving annular velocities that will remove cuttings;

2) Mist drilling involves injecting a foaming agent into the air stream, which mixes with produced water and lifts drill cuttings;

3) Stable foam uses chemical detergents and polymers and a foam generator to carry cuttings in fast-moving air stream;

4) Aerated fluids rely on mud with injected air (which reduces the hydrostatic head) to remove drilled solids from the wellbore.

Read More → 9 Distinct Mud Systems

What are fossil fuels

What are fossil fuels?

Fossil fuel is a generic name for fuels with hydrocarbon compounds. Most fossil fuels consist of dead organisms are formed under high pressure and temperatures (often millions of years) for a very long period. The highest percentage of our energy is generated from fossil fuels. Oil, gas and coal are the main types of fossil fuels. Also, lignite and peat are fossil fuels. The advantage of this type of fuels that large stocks of existence and extraction is cheap by years of experience.

Cons

Unfortunately there are also some drawbacks to the massive use of fossil fuels. The extraction of the fuel itself polluting. In the drilling of oil comes involuntarily oil into the environment. Accidents on drilling rigs or during transport at sea allows large amounts of oil escape with disastrous consequences for the environment. Mining of lignite and coal leaves big mark on the landscape. Burning fossil fuels to produce energy has a negative impact on the health of humans and animals. Particulate matter emitted by car exhausts leads to regular breathing to deadly respiratory diseases. The biggest drawback is that gets too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to large-scale use of fossil fuels. This creates the greenhouse effect which ultimately leads to global warming and unforeseen changes in climate.

Finite Stock

Regardless of the negative consequences for humans and nature camps fossil fuel with another problem, namely that the supply is finite. Since it takes millions of years before fossil fuels get their usable form, the stocks may not be replenished while the man she continues to use. Given the rate at which we use fossil fuels, so they are finite. Already, the end dates of some major oil fields have been established for this century. New forms of fossil fuel extraction and schaliegasboring or drilling in inhospitable areas will be unable to turn the tide and the environment cause further damage. Hence, an energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomass, nuclear) this century is inevitable and will be put in motion by some countries such as Germany.

Read More → What are fossil fuels

Horizontal Well

What is 'Horizontal Well'

A well that is transformed into horizontal in depth, providing access to the oil and gas reserves in a wide range of angles. horizontal wells has grown in popularity during the 1980s, such as natural gas and oil exploration turned away from less productive than vertical wells. This type of well is used to gain access to conventional sources of reserves.

horizontal wells became economically viable in 1980, such as computerized mapping and directional localization and holes made access difficult to reach deposits of oil and natural gas, easier and more convenient. Of the three categories of drilling horizontal rays - short, medium and long - average drilling is more prevalent

horizontal wells tend to be much more productive than vertical wells. This is because they allow a single well to reach more points, without the need for further vertical wells. This makes each far more productive individual, since most tanks are more productive throughout their horizontal axis that their vertical access. horizontal wells also reduce the risk of introducing water or gas intrusions in the case of oil exploration.

While more productive than vertical wells, horizontal wells tend to be more expensive. Although this cost has decreased over the years tends to be a learning curve associated with exploring new types of fields, especially for developers and inexperienced.

horizontal wells usually starting with the drilling of a vertical well. Drilling vertically allows engineers to examine rock fragments at different levels, in order to determine where the reserves are located. horizontal wells are then "kicked off" from the auction primary vertical, and enter the tank to an "entry point" after the drilling of an arched hole.

The extraction of oil and gas from conventional sources, such as shale rock formations, often requires the use of horizontal drilling technologies.

Read More → Horizontal Well

Vertical Well

A well that is not converted into horizontally in depth, allowing access to the oil and gas reserves are located directly below the point of surface access. Historically, natural gas and oil exploration has involved the use of vertical wells because the directional drilling technology was expensive and complicated. Drilling of vertical wells is considered a conventional method.

Vertical shafts differ directional wells, such as horizontal wells, deep because they require the use of directional drilling. This makes them less expensive to develop, although less productive because of their limited range.

While vertical wells may be less complicated to bring in line of directional wells, their limited angles make them less able to reach a wider part of the underground area. Because a vertical shaft can access only the reserves of petroleum and natural gas directly under, making a large manufacturing industry requires the drilling of many vertical wells. They are especially handy in case of reserve thin layers located over a wide area. Since a vertical well can be drilled in a single direction, the exploration company must estimate the most productive portion of the reserve from the beginning; a vertical drilled well can go right through the reserve, drawing only a portion of the available energy.

horizontal wells usually starting with the drilling of a vertical well. Drilling vertically allows engineers to examine rock fragments at different levels, in order to determine where the reserves are located. horizontal wells are then "kicked off" from the primary vertical shaft.

The extraction of oil and gas from unconventional sources such as shale rock, often requires the use of horizontal drilling technologies because the source can be executed in the horizontal direction. If the reserves are located in a residential area, well vertical drilling would require both the displacement of residents or require them to live next to a tower.

Read More → Vertical Well

Intangible drilling costs - IDC

Costs to develop an oil well or gas for the elements that are not part of the final work well. Costs of intangible (IDC) including all expenses incurred by an incidental operator required the drilling and preparation of wells for oil and gas production, as the survey work, land clearing, drainage, wages, fuel, repairs, supplies and so on. In general, expenses are classified as IDC if they have no salvage value. Since IDC include all real and actual expenses, except for the drilling equipment, the word "immaterial" is something of a misnomer.

Our drillingknowledge blog calls - 'intangible drilling costs - IDC'

The IDC deduction was authorized in the United States since 1913 in order to attract investment capital for business at high risk for oil and gas exploration. If a taxpayer makes an election to IDC expenses, it shall be deducted the amount of the IDC in the tax period in which it was paid or incurred.

Read More → Intangible drilling costs - IDC

Directional Drilling

A drilling technique in which a well is bored to multiple angles. Directional drilling refers more often for the non-vertical angle drilling, including horizontally. It is used both to recover oil and natural gas underground, and is useful in situations where the shape of the tank is abnormal. It is also used to adjust pressure created by the gas in mines (degassing).

As a technique, directional drilling allows oil and gas operators to approach a potentially productive zone, without the need of a well to be drilled directly above that area. A central site can serve holes that reach more and more to non-vertical angles positions. This reduces the number of facilities and which must be constructed and maintained. With no need to build new wells may also lead to the exploration of smaller fields that would otherwise be uneconomical.

Early involved directional drilling tip of the tip with a different vertical angle, resulting in a straight line away from the well. The modern drilling techniques allow the use of tips that can bend; allow engineers to adjust the direction of the well is drilled to a certain extent. This can be accomplished through the use of hydraulic jets

Directional drilling is used in the development of mines, in order to reduce the risk of potentially dangerous gas breakages. In-mine drilling techniques allow companies to create holes in advance of my face.

While the basic concepts of directional drilling date back to the 19th century, has become a popular technique such as computer technology has become more common. The toe angle used for bored shaft can be regulated by a computer using GPS signals to pinpoint the location of an oil and gas field. Engineers create the 3D field models to determine the best location for good, and the best approach to the hole to follow.

Read More → Directional Drilling

What is Drilling Mud

Fluid used in the drilling of wells. Drilling mud, also referred to as drilling fluid is one of drillingknowledge, is used to clear the hole of debris created during the drilling process, to cool the tip, and maintain the pressurized hole. The composition of the drilling mud used in the drilling process depends on the type of hole being drilled and the material to be bore. 

Drilling muds have been used to improve drilling operations for most of modern history. The water was used to smooth the surface material and remove scraps when they were drilled groundwater wells. contemporary drilling activities are much more sophisticated, and wells can reach miles below the surface in order to reach oil and natural gas.

The type of drilling mud used depends on the material drilled through, the technical requirements of the mud performance (viscosity and speed), cost and regulations. One of the primary functions of the drilling mud is to remove the shavings created by the drill hole. Because the wells are so deep it is impossible to remove the debris on the bottom without the use of some form of liquid. specialized Liquids are often used because they have high speed and viscosity, which allows them to move more easily when a drill both materials is in operation and to keep cutting suspended in the liquid when the drill is stopped.

The use of drilling mud, particularly specialized sludge using potentially hazardous chemicals is regulated. Regulations are used to ensure that the waste material is kept away from ground water, rivers and lakes, where pollution could cause the water to be safe and unusable for the public. Used drilling mud and sediment created during the drilling process can be used as pool treatments pumping in large pools.

Read More → What is Drilling Mud

What Mud Fluid in drilling for ?

The drilling mud are primarily for:

1. to lubricate and cool the drill drilling that would otherwise warming, for the friction with the rock , quickly arrive at break.
2. Pipe on the surface of earth and rock fragments (commonly known by the English technical term for cutting ) produced by the action of the chisel.
3. Exercise a counter pressure hydrostatic hole at the bottom and along its walls discoveries (ie not tubate) to contain the leakage of the fluid layer and to avoid the risk of kick or in more severe cases the real eruption of the well.
4. Supporting walls of the hole (thanks to the pressure exerted by the hydrostatic load), in order to prevent landslides and loss of the punched hole. This feature is said that the mud must do "panel" that must practically "plaster" the walls of the well.
5. The most important properties of the drilling mud must be the "thixotropy", namely the characteristic that, at the time that the circulation in the pit stops, the sludge to be gelled fluid holding imprisoned in suspension the cutting resulting from the drilling. Otherwise these debris, stopping the circulation of the fluid, would fall to the bottom hole imprisoning the chisel and the "battery terminal part" drilling.

In the oil exploration monitoring geological of drilling muds, by analyzing the microscope of fragments of rock it allows to recognize the stratigraphy of the perforated rocky succession and provides the first indications of the characteristics petrophysical properties of the reservoir . 

Furthermore, the analysis by means of gas chromatographs , of the fluids contained in the outgoing mud from the well, provides important clues for the detection and recognition of mineralized levels to hydrocarbons.

In some cases similar muds are used temporarily to support the walls of trenches or over works of excavation of civil engineering within loose soil, prior to the implementation of their final completion.

Read More → What Mud Fluid in drilling for ?

Drilling Rig

A drilling rig is a machine that creates holes in the earth sub-surface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person and are called augers. Drilling rigs can sample sub-surface mineral deposits, test rock, soil and groundwater physical properties, and also can be used to install sub-surface fabrications, such as underground utilities, instrumentation, tunnels or wells. Drilling rigs can be mobile equipment mounted on trucks, tracks or trailers, or more permanent land or marine-based structures (such as oil platforms, commonly called 'offshore oil rigs' even if they don't contain a drilling rig). The term "rig" therefore generally refers to the complex of equipment that is used to penetrate the surface of the Earth's crust.

Small to medium-sized drilling rigs are mobile, such as those used in mineral exploration drilling, blast-hole, water wells and environmental investigations. Larger rigs are capable of drilling through thousands of metres of the Earth's crust, using large "mud pumps" to circulate drilling mud (slurry) through the drill bit and up the casing annulus, for cooling and removing the "cuttings" while a well is drilled. Hoists in the rig can lift hundreds of tons of pipe. Other equipment can force acid or sand into reservoirs to facilitate extraction of the oil or natural gas; and in remote locations there can be permanent living accommodation and catering for crews (which may be more than a hundred). Marine rigs may operate thousands of miles distant from the supply base with infrequent crew rotation or cycle.

Read More → Drilling Rig

DRILLING OR DRILLING TOWER

The derrick or drilling tower is a steel tower used in rigs underground.

Its purpose is structural, because it serves to store the drilling rods during the same, but also withstand the stresses of the injection system of the drilling mud , the voltages of the ' winch and the weight of the top drive . 

The main and almost exclusive use, it has the oil rigs, but also can be wrought in plants (increasingly large caliber) that deal with the drilling for geothermal purposes or for the construction of water wells.

The construction of drilling rigs is regulated by the rules API (American Petroleum Institute), and applies worldwide.

The rules stipulate the API building materials that must be used depending on the application, the construction and design criteria, but also the application of each tower of a type plate, that brings its serial number, the year of construction , the manufacturer's name, the availability of methods of the manufacturer, the place of construction, the steel used to achieve tensile properties and the number of the rule that respects.

The drilling towers are of different types, in function of the system in which they must work. They can also be simple telescopic tubes, in the case of plants fast moving , ie drilling rigs that are easily and quickly be moved from one site to another. As a rule, the fast moving , are constituted by commercial means ie trucks with flatbed modified to accommodate the drilling tower, which as stated is of the telescopic type. In this case the tower is not mounted, but only controlled with a system of hydraulic jacks that allow it to be extended to its maximum length. Before performing this operation, however, the truck must have been well fixed to the ground, and the tower must be in a perfectly vertical position, as well as constrained.

Read More → DRILLING OR DRILLING TOWER

Drilling Rigs Type

There are many different types of drilling rigs. Which rig selected depends on the specific requirements of each drill site. Roll your mouse over each picture to see what kind of rig it is.Its a good for drilling knowledge

Land Based Drilling Rigs - The land-based drilling rig is the most common type used for exploration. This site is using a conventional, land-based drilling rig that is smaller and more efficient than those used in the past.

Slim Hole Drilling Rig - A conventional drill bore might be 18 inches in diameter; a slimhole bore can be as little as 6 inches. A slimhole well drilled to 14,760 feet may produce one-third the amount of rock cuttings generated by a standard well. The size of the drill site can be as much as 75 percent smaller, since slimhole equipment requires less space than conventional equipment. However, slimhole drilling is not technically feasible in all environments.

Coiled Tubing Drill Rig - Conventional wells are drilled using sections of rigid pipe to form the drill string. In some cases, coiled tubing technology can replace the typical drill string with a continuous length of pipe stored on a large spool. This approach has many benefits, including reduced drilling waste and minimized equipment footprints, so it is especially useful in environmentally sensitive areas. This technology is best suited to re-entering existing wells, and when multiple casing wells are unnecessary.

Jackup Drill Rigs – These rigs may be used in relatively shallow water -- less than 300 feet deep. A jackup rig is a floating barge containing the drilling structure that is outfitted with long support legs that can be raised or lowered independently of each other. The jackup, as it is known informally, is towed onto location with its legs up and the barge section floating on the water. Once at the drilling location, the legs are jacked down onto the seafloor, and then all three legs are jacked further down. Since the legs will not penetrate the seafloor, continued jacking down of the legs raises the jacking mechanism attached to the barge and drilling package, and slowly lifts the entire barge and drilling structure to a predetermined height above the water. These rigs are extremely strong, since they have to withstand ocean storms and high waves. These rigs are moved by simply by moving the legs up and down, which makes them cost-effective and easily shifted out of harm's way during storms.

Semi-Submersible Rigs – Drilling in water deeper than 300 feet demands some kind of floating platform to hold the rig. Semi-submersible rigs are floating vessels supported on large pontoon-like structures that are submerged below the sea surface. As with jackup rigs, the operating decks are elevated as much as 100 or more feet above the pontoons on large steel columns. This design has the advantage of submerging most of the area of components in contact with the sea and minimizing loading from waves and wind. Semisubmersibles can operate in a wide range of water depths, including deep water. Semi-submersibles can either be attached to the ocean bottom using strong chains and wire cables or may utilize dynamic positioning to remain stationary during drilling without anchors.

Drill Ship - For exploration targets farther offshore, specially designed rigs mounted on ships can drill a well in water depths up to 10,000 feet. These rigs float and can be attached to the ocean bottom using traditional mooring and anchoring systems, or utilize dynamic positioning to remain stationary during drilling without anchors.

Read More → Drilling Rigs Type