An oil platform, oil rig, offshore platform, or oil and/or gas production platform is a large structure with facilities to extract, and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms will also contain facilities to accommodate their workforce, although it is also common for there to be a separate accommodation platform bridge linked to the production platform. Most commonly, oil platforms engage in activities on the continental shelf, though they can also be used in lakes, inshore waters, and inland seas. Depending on the circumstances, the platform may be fixed to the ocean floor, consist of an artificial island, or float. In some arrangements the main facility may have storage facilities for the processed oil. Remote subsea wells may also be connected to a platform by flow lines and by umbilical connections. These sub-sea solutions may consist of one or more subsea wells or of one or more manifold centres for multiple wells.
Offshore construction is the installation of structures and facilities in a marine environment, usually for the production and transmission of electricity, oil, gas and other resources. It is also called maritime engineering.
A semi-submersible platform is a specialised marine vessel used in offshore roles including as offshore drilling rigs, safety vessels, oil production platforms, and heavy lift cranes. They have good ship stability and seakeeping, better than drillships.
A tension-leg platform (TLP) or extended tension leg platform (ETLP) is a vertically moored floating structure normally used for the offshore production of oil or gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than 300 metres and less than 1500 metres. Use of tension-leg platforms has also been proposed for offshore wind turbines.
The Atlantis oil field is the third largest oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. The field was discovered in 1998 and is located at the Green Canyon blocks 699, 700, 742, 743, and 744 in United States federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico about 130 miles (210 km) from the coast of Louisiana. The oil field lies in water depths ranging from 4,400 to 7,100 feet. The subsea structure of Atlantis has long been the target of safety critics.
A drillship is a merchant vessel designed for use in exploratory offshore drilling of new oil and gas wells or for scientific drilling purposes. In recent years the vessels have been used in deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications, equipped with the latest and most advanced dynamic positioning systems.
A blowout is the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well after pressure control systems have failed. Modern wells have blowout preventers intended to prevent such an occurrence. An accidental spark during a blowout can lead to a catastrophic oil or gas fire.
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the term is used to describe drilling activities on the continental shelf, though the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes, inshore waters and inland seas.
Subsea is fully submerged ocean equipment, operations or applications, especially when some distance offshore, in deep ocean waters, or on the seabed. The term is frequently used in connection with oceanography, marine or ocean engineering, ocean exploration, remotely operated vehicle (ROVs) autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), submarine communications or power cables, seafloor mineral mining, oil and gas, and offshore wind power.
"Offshore", when used in relation to hydrocarbons, refers to operations undertaken at, or under the, sea in association with an oil, natural gas or condensate field that is under the seabed, or to activities carried out in relation to such a field. Offshore is part of the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated by BP. On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, a blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 40 miles (64 km) away. The fire was inextinguishable and, two days later, on 22 April, the Horizon sank, leaving the well gushing at the seabed and causing the largest marine oil spill in history.
A submersible drilling rig is a marine vessel design that can be floated to location and lowered onto the sea floor for offshore drilling activities.
A drilling riser is a conduit that provides a temporary extension of a subsea oil well to a surface drilling facility. Drilling risers are categorised into two types: marine drilling risers used with subsea blowout preventer (BOP) and generally used by floating drilling vessels; and tie-back drilling risers used with a surface BOP and generally deployed from fixed platforms or very stable floating platforms like a spar or tension leg platform (TLP).
The Macondo Prospect is an oil and gas prospect in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. The prospect was the site of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April 2010 that led to a major oil spill in the region from the first exploration well, named itself MC252-1, which had been designed to investigate the existence of the prospect.
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion was an April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles (64 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused an oil well fire and a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in United States history.
Deepwater Nautilus is an ultra-deepwater, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig.
Perdido (spanish for lost) is the deepest floating oil platform in the world at a water depth of about 2450 meters (8040 feet) operated by the Shell Oil Company in the Gulf of Mexico. At 267 meters, the above water portion of the structure is almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower. The platform is located in the Perdido fold belt which is a rich discovery of crude oil and natural gas. The Perdido spar began production in 2010 and its peak production is 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (ca. 16,000 m3/d) and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day (ca. 5.7*106 m3/d).
An Emergency Disconnect Package (EDP) is a piece of equipment used in the drilling and work-over of deep sea oil & gas wells, by Mobile Offshore Drilling Rigs (MODU's) and Well Intervention Vessels (WIV's). The EDP is designed for use in an emergency, when the MODU or WIV needs to quickly disconnect, and move away from the oil/gas well that it is drilling or working-over. Examples of when this might be necessary include unexpected extreme weather that exceeds the MODU/Vessel's capability to maintain its position.
The Helix fast-response system (HFRS) is a deep-sea oil spill response plan licensed by HWCG LLC, a consortium of 16 independent oil companies, to respond to subsea well incidents. Helix Energy Solutions Group designed the Helix fast-response system based on techniques used to contain the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. On February 28, 2011 the drilling moratorium imposed as a result of the spill ended when the United States Department of the Interior approved the first drilling permit based on the availability of the HFRS to offshore oil companies.
Ocean development refers to the establishing of human activities at sea and use of the ocean, as well as its governance.
