Using a drilling rig to bore holes for petroleum extraction in deep sea
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Deepwater drilling" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help clarify the article. There might be a discussion about this on the talk page.(January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions.(January 2013)
(Learn how and when to remove this message)
Deepwater drilling,[1] or deep well drilling,[2] is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150 meters.[3][full citation needed]
Deepwater drilling has not been technologically or economically feasible for many years, but with rising oil prices,[when?] more companies are investing in this sector.[4] Major investors include Halliburton, Diamond Offshore, Transocean, Geoservices, and Schlumberger. The deepwater gas and oil market has been back on the rise since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, with total expenditures of around US$35 billion per year in the market and total global capital expenditures of US$167 billion in the past four years.[5] Industry analysis by business intelligence company Visiongain estimated in 2011 that total expenditures in global deepwater infrastructure would reach US$145 billion.[6]
A HowStuffWorks article explains how and why deepwater drilling is practiced:
Not all oil is accessible on land or in shallow water. You can find some oil deposits buried deep under the ocean floor. ... Using sonic equipment, oil companies determine the drilling sites most likely to produce oil. Then they use a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) to dig the initial well. Some units are converted into production rigs, meaning they switch from drilling for oil to capturing oil once it's found. Most of the time, the oil company will replace the MODU with a more permanent oil production rig to capture oil. ...The MODU's job is to drill down into the ocean's floor to find oil deposits. The part of the drill that extends below the deck and through the water is called the riser. The riser allows for drilling fluids to move between the floor and the rig. Engineers lower a drill string – a series of pipes designed to drill down to the oil deposit – through the riser.[7]
In the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, a large explosion occurred, killing workers and spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico while a BP oil rig was drilling in deep waters.
The expansion of deepwater drilling is happening despite accidents in offshore fields ... Despite the risks, the deepwater drilling trend is spreading in the Mediterranean and off the coast of East Africa after a string of huge discoveries of natural gas. ... The reason for the resumption of such drilling, analysts say, is continuing high demand for energy worldwide.[8]
^Leffler, William L.; Pattarozzi, Richard; Sterling, Gordon (2011). Deepwater Petroleum Exploration & Production: A Nontechnical Guide. PennWell Books. ISBN 978-0878148462.
^Jeffery, Walter Henry (1921). Deep Well Drilling: The Principles and Practices of Deep Well Drilling, and a Hand Book of Useful Information for the Well Driller. W. H. Jeffery Company.
^"Maps and GIS Data | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management".
^The Deepwater Ultra Deepwater Exploration Production Market 2013-2023. visiongain. January 2, 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
^"The World Deepwater Market Report 2010-2014". Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
^The Deepwater Ultra Deepwater Market 2011-2021. visiongain. May 31, 2011. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
^Freudenrich, Ph.D, Craig; Strickland, Jonathan (12 April 2001). "How Oil Drilling Works". Retrieved 21 September 2013.
^Krauss, Clifford; Broder, John M. (2012-03-04). "Deepwater Oil Drilling Picks Up Again as BP Disaster Fades". New York Times.
and 24 Related for: Deepwater drilling information
Deepwaterdrilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep...
Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated by BP. On 20...
occurred on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the...
the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (January 2011). "Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling" (PDF)...
States Coast Guard, National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and...
blowout that began with the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion on April 20, 2010. March 2008 – The mineral rights to drill for oil at the Macondo well...
Transocean Ltd. is an American drilling company. It is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Vernier, Switzerland...
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...
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...
States deepwaterdrilling moratorium Deepwaterdrilling Tilove, Jonathan (2010-06-08). "Regulatory delays could take heavy toll on shallow-water drilling"....
sea mining Deepwaterdrilling Drillship North Sea oil Offshore geotechnical engineering Offshore oil and gas in the United States Oil drilling Protocol...
On May 30, 2010 a 6-month moratorium on all deepwater offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf was declared by U.S. Secretary of the Interior...
in Virginia Deepwater Railway, a short line railroad in West Virginia DeepwaterdrillingDeepwater Horizon oil spill Integrated Deepwater System Program...
shale gas recoverable reserves, as well as drilling in Central Asia, South America and Africa, deepwaterdrilling, estimates are undergoing frequent updates...
The process of modern drilling for wells first started in the 19th century but was made more efficient with advances to oil drilling rigs and technology...
A drill string on a drilling rig is a column, or string, of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid (via the mud pumps) and torque (via the kelly drive...
Dolphin Drilling Holdings Limited is an offshore drilling rig company headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom with its main subsidiary Dolphin...
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling is a bipartisan presidential commission, established by Executive...
2013, Sapura Energy bought $2.9 billion worth of tender rigs from deepwaterdrilling company Seadrill, further expanding the company's tender rig business...
Deepwater Nautilus is an ultra-deepwater, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig. Built in 2000 in South Korea, she is owned by Transocean, registered...
oil drilling. She co-sponsored three bills that she argued would reduce American dependence on foreign oil by ending the 2010 United States deepwater drilling...
deepwaterdrilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico issued by the United States Department of the Interior after the moratorium following the Deepwater Horizon...
Global Information
