Due to the high demand for petroleum products worldwide, the oil and gas industry drills off the land for resources. A high demand motivates companies to search for oil in more remote locations like the ocean to find fuel to power the world. Since the ocean covers most of the earth and we are running out of land to drill, our seas are inevitably the place to which oil companies turn. Find out how offshore oil drilling works.
Determine Drilling Sites
Oil companies used sonic equipment to determine the best places to drill for oil on the ocean floor. Sonar gives companies the best idea of where the ground is solid and where liquid or gas deposits may lurk.
Drilling for Oil
Once they determine a drilling location, companies use mobile offsite drilling units (MODUs) to begin the process of finding oil offshore. These units can switch from drilling to capturing oil, meaning some MODUs become production rigs. Companies use four types of MODUs to start offshore oil production rigs:
- Submersibles are barges that rest on the ocean floor about 30 feet below sea level in areas with calm water. They include steel posts that extend above the sea line and have a platform on top.
- Jackups are barges that sit on top of the water and are towed to a drilling site. They consist of legs and platforms that don’t touch the ocean floor.
- Drillships have a drill on the top of the deck that operates through a hole in the hull. They operate in deep water with anchors and propellors to correct the ship as it drifts.
- Semisubmersibles are submersible pontoons that use dozens of anchors to maintain their position. Vessels or propulsion systems take them to drill sites.
Hitting Oil
Once companies find offshore oil, they seal the underwater well to prepare for a rig. Companies set up offshore oil rigs by putting plugs in place. They use drilling mud to fill the drill bit, provide lubrication, and seal the well. It also controls the pressure inside the wall, which flow meters for oil and gas monitor. Workers lay pipe as the drill goes deeper into the well.
Aside from the basics of how offshore oil drilling works, the rest is like oil production and transportation on land. Companies transport oil to consumers, be they businesses or citizens, using pipelines and ships. The demand for oil has resulted in a worldwide network of communication and transportation.
