3 Exciting Facts About Oil Drilling

The presence of oil has led to enormous shifts in the world, shifts that have led to the rise of some nations, and fall for others.  

While in recent decades, oil extraction has come under scrutiny by environmental groups and green energy advocates, oil remains an ever-present resource in the world. According to statistics, oil accounts for 2.5% of the world's GDP and is a third of the world’s energy supply. Given the importance of oil, let’s examine a few facts about oil drilling.

Oil is Found in Different Places

Oil can be found in a myriad of different places. Sometimes, it’s found under a big empty field near a major road. However, sometimes it’s found in the thousands of feet under the ocean. It’s usually easier to extract oil from land, however oil resources on land are quite limited.

Over the past few decades, the oil price has consistently risen to higher levels. This indicates how high the oil demand was. With land oil extraction depleting, many oil companies dispatched to offshore oil rigs in the middle of the ocean. Although offshore oil rigging is a higher-cost and higher-risk venture, since the oceans are home to a large proportion of oil reserves, drilling is worthwhile.

Offshore Oil Rigs Require a Lot of Planning

Usually, oil platforms are installed where there are already a lot of other platforms. These include areas like the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico, or the North Sea.

However, oil companies need to determine which exact location has the highest potential of oil. Therefore, geologists conduct surveys using ships and satellite imagery. Once the spot is selected, a rig will be towed to the location and installed.

Once there put it into location, offshore oil rigs often don’t move for long periods. They’re intended long-term operation in a single spot.

Oil Extraction is Boon to the Helicopter Industry

Most workers who work in an offshore oil gig work around 12 hours every day without weekends. Usually, the workers work for around 2–4 weeks and then get 2–4 weeks off in return. Keeping the employees working at all times means fewer workers are idle at any given moment, and less space is needed for accommodation.  

However, this means there is a lot of back and forth from onshore. This is usually done through helicopters. For example, many helicopter firms, like Bristow Aviation, have emerged and become quite prominent in the past few decades, serving primarily offshore oil rigs.

 

When working on offshore oil rigs, there’s no room for error and you must rely on highly precise and reliable instruments to carry out the work. Contact Instruments is a highly trusted supplier of premium process instrumentation in Canada and the United States. Their products include torque gauges & systems, weight indicator systems, and trash pump parts. They’ve got a team of qualified experts to provide any assistance necessary. Contact them for more information.