An oil platform, offshore platform, or offshore drilling rig is a large structure with facilities for well drilling to explore, extract, store, and process petroleum and natural gas that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms will also contain facilities to accommodate their workforce. 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. 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.
Alexander L. Kielland was a Norwegian semi-submersible drilling rig that capsized while working in the Ekofisk oil field in March 1980, killing 123 people. It was a platform of the Pentagone series.
Transocean Ltd. is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Vernier, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries, including Canada, the United States, Norway, Scotland, India, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Byford Dolphin is a semi-submersible, column-stabilised drilling rig operated by Dolphin Drilling, a Fred Olsen Energy subsidiary, and in 2009 contracted by BP for drilling in the United Kingdom section of the North Sea for three years. It is registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
China Oilfield Services (COSL) is an oilfield services company. It is a majority owned subsidiary of Chinese state owned company CNOOC Group. It also has a listed sister company in Hong Kong, CNOOC Limited.
Valaris plc is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and incorporated in the UK. It is the largest offshore drilling and well drilling company in the world, and owns 74 rigs, including 50 offshore jackup rigs, 16 drillships, and 8 semi-submersible platform drilling rigs.
Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. is an offshore drilling contractor. The company is headquartered in Katy, Texas, United States, and has major offices in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Scotland, Singapore, and Norway.
Seadrill is a deepwater drilling contractor for the petroleum industry. It is incorporated in Bermuda for tax purposes and managed from London And Houston The company operates semi-submersible platforms, jackup rigs and drillships.
Dolphin Drilling Holdings Limited is an offshore drilling rig company headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom with its main subsidiary Dolphin Drilling AS located in Sandnes, Norway. Until 2019, Dolphin Drilling had its headquarters in Oslo, Norway.
Smedvig ASA, ("Smedvig"), was a Norwegian offshore oil rig company headquartered in Stavanger until it was acquired by rig newcomer SeaDrill of tanker mogul John Fredriksen. At time of the merger Smedvig operated two semi submersibles, one drillship and one jack up rig in the Norwegian and British sector of the North Sea. A fleet of seven tender rigs were operated in South East Asia from the Singaporean subsidiary Smedvig Asia. As part of the merger, Smedvig's staff was transferred to Seadrill with Smedvig senior personnel assuming key positions in Seadrill. Smedvig was delisted from the OSE and NYSE, while Seadrill is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
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 which 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.
Awilco Offshore was a Norwegian drilling rig owner. In 2008 the company operated five jackup rigs and two semi-submersible accommodation rigs, with several others on order. Awilco was founded in 2005, headquartered in Oslo and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Operation of its rigs was done by the company Premium Drilling, owned by Awilco and Sinvest. The company was acquired by China Oilfield Services in 2008 and merged into its existing operations.
Nabors Industries is an American global oil and gas drilling contractor based and headquartered in Houston, Texas. Nabors owns the largest land drilling fleet in the world with approximately 400 rigs in more than 20 countries. Company consists of the following business segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies.
Odfjell Drilling Ltd. is an oil drilling, well service, and engineering company.
Petrojack was a Norwegian offshore drilling rig operator. The company had two jackup rigs under order from Jurong Shipyard in Singapore, while it sold its two former rigs Petrojack I and Petrojack III to Maersk Drilling. The company was founded in 2004 and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange the next year. The largest shareholders were Petrolia Drilling (40%), Awilco Offshore (18%) and Sinvest (18%).
Deepwater drilling, or Deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes by drilling rig for oil mining in deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150 meters.
Estimates of total oil reserves in Cuba are varied, and depend mainly on estimations of undiscovered offshore deposits in the North Cuba Basin. Proved crude oil reserves were 124 million barrels as of 2013.
Grup Servicii Petroliere is a Romanian company providing offshore integrated services for oil and gas industry. The company, established in 2004, is a member of UPETROM Group.
North Drilling Company is an Iranian company specialized in drilling oil and gas wells and its services in all regions of Iran and world, to global customers. The company was privatized in June 2009. As of February 2010, Mehr Eghtesad, a quasi-government investment company, owned 20% of its shares on the Tehran Stock Exchange.
Global Maritime is an independent offshore and engineering consultancy headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. The company provides engineering, marine and advisory services to the offshore and shipping industry. Originally operating primarily in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the company has over the recent years expanded its area of operations to include a number of emerging market locations. Global Maritime offers expertise from concept design, construction and operation, through to decommissioning of offshore developments.
NOK 175 million (2005)
