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. Of. HistoryAround 1891, the first submerged oil wells were drilled from platforms built on piles in the fresh waters of the in . The wells were developed by small local companies such as Bryson, Riley Oil, G. .
Offshore drilling is usually done from platforms generically known as mobile offshore drilling units (MODU), which can be of one of several formats, depending on the water depth: •. .
Notable offshore fields include: • the • the (offshore , , , and )• (in the and , part of the Ventura Basin).
[pdf] • (#22) is a section of large diameter pipe fitted to the top of the that the attaches to via a side outlet, to allow the to flow back to the .• (BOPs) (#23 and #24) are devices installed at the wellhead to prevent fluids and gases from unintentionally escaping from the . #23 is the annular (often referred to as Hydril named after a manufacturer), and #24 is the pipe rams and blind rams.
[pdf] Oil well fires can cause the loss of millions of barrels of crude oil per day. Combined with the ecological problems caused by the large amounts of smoke and unburnt petroleum falling back to earth, oil well fires such as those seen in Kuwait in 1991 can cause enormous economic losses. Smoke from burnt crude oil. .
Oil well fires are that have caught on and . They can be the result of accidents, , or natural events, such as . They can exist on a small scale, such as an oil field spill catching fire, or on. .
Oil well fires are more difficult to extinguish than regular fires due to the enormous supply for the fire. In fighting a fire at a , typically , such as
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