Oil in History History of Offshore Oil Extraction

The need for light…

Timeline s st commercial oil well drilled in Poland st North American oil well drilled in Ontario, Canada The petroleum industry grew through the 1800s ~ becoming a leading international industry as the 20 th century progressed. Today’s top 3 oil producing countries: Saudi Arabia Russia United States

80% of the world’s accessible reserves are in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Iraq Qatar Kuwait

s oil was found off-shore. The 1 st submerged wells were drilled from platforms in Ohio. 5 years later in 1896 ~ 1 st ocean submerged oil wells drilled in California.

Kansas 1911 ~ note all the wooden barrels.

1919 Tanker used by Texaco

s 1950s ~ 1 st true “off-shore” oil rig set on a fixed platform in 14 feet of water (but only 1 mile off-shore). In 1933 the process of locating oil (exploratory drilling) was revolutionized when a barge-mounted rig was designed to be moved from one location to the next with relative ease. This was the first mobile drilling unit.

st “beyond the horizon” oil rig.

By 1949, 11 fields were found in the Gulf of Mexico with 44 exploratory wells. Compared to today… 3,858 active platforms

s 1950s CUSS 1 drillship drillship Semi-submersible platform

Deepwater Horizon was a semi-submersible oil rig.

There are specific platforms that perform better in particular water depths.

Harsh conditions ~ remote locations

Environmental risks

Largest Offshore Oil Rig Spills

An oil well in the Timor Sea, off the coast of Western Australia, began leaking, and the platform subsequently caught fire. The well spewed oil for more than two months, leaking as much as 2,000 barrels a day (6,216,000 gallons) for 74 days before it was capped, making it one of the worst spills in Australian history. Montara, Australia, 2009:

A tanker hit a rig off the coast of Iran, and the rig began leaking 1,500 barrels a day. Because Iran and Iraq were at war, the oil flow was not stopped, and the platform was later attacked by Iraqi warplanes. Later, a second platform was attacked, and initially spilled 5,000 barrels a day before slowing to 1,500. Two years passed before Iran capped the wells, but by then over 733,000 barrels (30,786,000 gallons) of oil spilled into the Persian Gulf. Nowruz oil field, Persian Gulf, 1983:

A blowout at a well five miles off the coast of Santa Barbara caused a leak that flowed for 11 days and 80,000 to 100,000 barrels (46,200,000 gallons) were released. According to a report by the University of California, Santa Barbara, the spill affected 800 square miles of ocean and coated 35 miles of coastline with oil. Santa Barbara, Calif., 1969:

Generally considered the fourth largest oil spill in history, the Ixtoc spill occurred when the Mexican state-owned Pemex was drilling an exploratory well in shallow water in the Bay of Campeche. The Ixtoc suffered a blowout, and more than 3 million barrels (126,000,000 gallons) of oil gushed from the well for more than nine months before engineers were able to cap it. The spill contaminated more than 162 miles of beach in Texas. Ixtoc I oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, 1979:

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded due to a methane gas release on April, 20, 2010, immediately killing 11 and injuring 17 platform workers. On July 15, 2010, the leak was stopped, however 206 million gallons of oil had already spilled into the Gulf. In addition to the oil, more than 1.8 million gallons of dispersant were released into the Gulf. Gulf of Mexico, 2010:

List of Oil Spills: