The Construction of an Oil Rig On average, a land oil rig takes about a year to complete, while an offshore oil

rig can take between 2 and 4 years, depending on the type of oil rig. Offshore, as well as land rigs halt production if oil prices are expected to drop. Offshore rigs have many different uses: ship loading and unloading, supporting causeways and bridges, and oil exploration and production. These platforms must last twentyfive years safely, and must follow very strict guidelines. The strong currents often cause loads on the mooring systems and can induce vortex shedding. However, these rigs are not built to survive Category 5 hurricanes because the cost of said rigs would triple. This would also require the current standards to be drastically changed. An easy way to keep the waves of a Category 5 hurricane from destroying the rig would be to raise the platform by 100 feet. Unfortunately, this would cause a wind problem as hurricanes are always accompanied with very strong wind. Offshore platforms, some of the tallest manmade structures on the Earth, are made of steel or reinforced concrete. Typically, they are generally made nowadays with varying grades of steel, from mild steel to high strength steel. The sea floor is often thousands of feet below sea level. Because of this, an artificial platform must be built. Because of the varying sea depths, there are many different types of oil rigs. All of these, however, can fit into one of two categories: moveable offshore drilling rigs, which can be moved from one drilling site to another, and fixed rigs/platforms, which cannot. Drilling barges, which are mostly used for inland drilling in rivers and canals, are floating platforms towed by tugboats from place to place. These barges cannot withstand the water movement of open waters and therefore are only suitable for shallow waters. Jackup rigs, though transported and constructed very similarly to drilling barges, have one major difference. Once jackup rigs are brought to the site, four legs are lowered until they rest on the sea floor. The working platform remains above water, unlike a floating barge. This form is also only useful in shallow water, only up to 500 feet. These are typically safer to operate than drilling barges. Submersible rigs, similar to jackup rigs because they also touch the ocean floor, are made up of two hulls on top of one another. The upper hull contains the living quarters for the crew and the drilling platform, while the lower hull acts in the same way as a submarine. When the rig is being moved, the lower hull is filed with air, which adds to the buoyancy of the rig. When the rig reaches the oil site, the air is let out and the rig sinks to the sea floor. This rig is also only useful in shallow water, but it has the advantage of mobility in the water. Semi-submersible platforms is a type of oil rig that has a floating drill unit included columns and pontoons. If said pontoons are flooded with water, these pontoons will sink to a predetermined depth. This type of oil rig is the most common because it combines the perks of a submersible oil rig with the ability to go into deep water. They work on the same principle as submersible rigs, with the lower hull acting as a submarine does. This lower hull, which is always filled with water during drilling adds stability to the rig. These rigs are usually held in place by ten-ton anchors, which ensure that the rig stays stable, especially in choppy offshore waters. These rigs can also be kept in place with dynamic positioning. These rigs can be used to

drill in depths up to 6,000 feet safely. The rig also drills a hole in the seafloor and can be quickly moved to new drilling sites. Drillships are boats designed to carry out drilling operations. These boats are designed to carry drilling platforms to deep-sea location, with a drilling platform and derrick, which is a crane, on the middle of its deck. They contain a hole called a moonpool, which extends down the ship and through the hull, allowing for the drill string to extend into the water. Drillships use dynamic positioning system. They are equipped with electric motors, which are capable of directing the ship in any direction through the use of satellite positioning technology to ensure that the ship is above the drill site at all times. Fixed platforms, which are mainly used in shallow water, are physically attached to the sea floor. The legs, in this case, are constructed of concrete or steel. These legs are attached to the seafloor with piles. The weight of the legs is often so great that no piles are needed to hold attach the platform to the ground. This type offers the most stability, because the legs are actually attached to the ocean floor. These platforms cannot be used in extremely deep water. Template, or jacket, platforms are usually installed in the Gulf of Mexico, and are made of steel. They mainly consist of jackets, decks, and piles. Compliant Towers are a lot like fixed platforms. They are made up of a narrow tower which is attached to the sea floor and extends to the platform. The tower is flexible, unlike fixed platforms. This allows the compliant towers to be used in much deeper water because the flexibility allows the legs to absorb the pressure of the wind and sea. This type of platform is strong enough to withstand hurricane conditions. Tension leg platforms have long flexible legs attached to the sea floor. The legs allow for side movement with little vertical movement. These types of platforms can be used in up to 7,000 feet of water. Seastar platforms are like miniature tension leg platforms. They consist of a floating rig with a lower hull filled with water. They also use tension legs that are kept under constant tension, which doesnt allow for much up and sown movement, but does allow side to side movement. This tension allows the platform to stand up to wind without the legs breaking. It is typically used in water up to 3,500 feet. Floating production systems are pretty much semi-submersible drilling rigs. Ships can also be used as a floating production system. The platforms are kept in place through heavy anchors. Once drilling is finished, the well head is attached to the sea floor. The petroleum is transported from this well head to production facilities on the platform. This type of rig can be used in water up to 6,000 feet. Subsea systems are wells located on the sea floor instead of the surface. The petroleum is extracted from the floor and can be drilled by a movable rig instead of building a whole rig for just one well. Because of this, one platform can easily service many wells over a large area. This type of rig can be used in depths over 7,000 feet, but they do not have the ability to drill, only to extract. Spar platforms, one of the largest platforms in use, are made up of one large cylinder supporting a fixed rig platform. It does not extend all the way to the sea floor, but is tethered to

the bottom by cables and lines. The cylinder stabilizes the platform and allows for movement of to absorb the force of potential hurricanes. The construction of these platforms go through several phases, including: investment feasibility studies, construction site survey including diving inspections of installation locations, conceptual basic and detailed design, platform element strength calculations, design approval by regulating authorities, procurement, fabrication of steel structures, preparation of platform elements transportation and offshore installation procedures, loadout transportation and installation operations, and commissioning. The creation of steel structures is usually carried out in institutions very far from where the rig will eventually sit. The creation of the structures is a very complicated and requires a very special design, with strength calculations for transportation conditions. Offshore construction require prompt response and coordination of engineering, design, and steel structure creation. Some of these steps are sometimes performed simultaneously due to strict scheduling requirements. The most common types of oil rigs are made out of steel. These designs must be made in accordance with recommendations published by the American Petroleum Institute (API). This must be done taking into account many different factors: environmental conditions, soil characteristics, code requirements, and the intensity level of consequences of failure. This entire process also must be approved by the client for whom the rig is being built. Environmental tests must be conducted and the construction must comply with APIs Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing, and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms Working Stress Design. This guideline specifies a minimum criteria for 100-year design storm. Helipads must also comply with their own set of standards. The environmental standards require protection against wave heights of 21 meters and wind velocities of 170 mph for the Gulf of Mexico. The API also has a regulation that requires that the lowest deck must be a minimum of 1.5 meter gap between the bottom of the deck and the surface of the water taking into account waves and high tide. The platform also should be able to survive loads generated by many different environmental conditions. Soil investigation is also important for the design of the rig. The soil, along with water depth, determines the type of rig needed. Soil under the sea bed can be clay, sand, silt, or a mixture of the three. Each building project requires a site-specific soil report that shows the characteristics of the soil. This is done through soil borings at specific locations and performing laboratory tests to develop usable data. This report should show the calculated capacity of said soil for piles. It should also show how wide and long these piles should be in order to create a stable foundation. Pile penetrations normally vary depending on the size of the platforms, but normally range from 30 to 100 meters. This report also shows which type of pile should be used. Clay soils are easier to drive piles through, but do not provide good support, while sandy soils are ideal, but provide issues closer to the surface. A model of any oil structure should include all parts of the structure and equipment. Typically, an offshore structure consists of a main deck, a cellar deck, sub-cellar deck, and a helideck. It is supported by deck legs that are connected to the top of the piles, which extend from above the Mean Low Water through the mudline and into the soil. Piles are contained within the legs for a jacket structure which braces the legs against lateral loads and serves as a

starting template for the initial driving of the legs. Any analysis must contain the equipment weight and maximum deck loading, dead loads, environmental loads, and wind loads. The analysis must also include marine growth as a natural way of growing the rig. Checks against the tubular joints will be made to make sure that the joints can survive punching. All of the parts of the structure will be chosen based on the results of the analyses. The platforms typically use pipe of wide flange beams for the main structural parts. The design team, with the analyses completed, will start the blueprints for the structure, complete with ideal dimensions discovered in the analyses and various other details related to the construction of the rig. The platforms are made strong enough to survive the most severe design loads and a lifetime of fatigue loading. A detailed fatigue analysis should be done beforehand. The platform, in order to go through a simplified fatigue analysis should be in less than 122 m water depth, constructed of ductile steel, have redundant framing, have natural periods less than 3 seconds. Once all of the analyses have been performed and show that the rig will be built to standard and the blueprints have been drawn, the designs must be sent to and approved by the client for whom the rig is being built. The client must take the blueprints and fill out a permit application consisting of an analysis summary, maximum foundation design loads, unity checks, copies of the soil report, and the actual blueprints. This application must be signed by the Consultant Lead Engineer and the Project Manager. After approved, the rig can now begin the construction process can begin. Steel and structural pieces must conform to American Society for Testing and Materials grade A36. All materials must be carefully tested. A fabrication yard must be chosen that is large enough for the construction of the oil rig. After these structures have been constructed, a seafastening analysis should be completed and these structures must be loaded and be transported offshore to the final assembly site. A transportation analysis must also be done. This analysis contains information like the worst seastate conditions during the time of year that the structure will be traveling. All of the sections must be built strong enough to survive the lifting and other installation stresses. The jackets must be self-supporting during the installation period. The piles must be designed to survive the stresses of pile driving. The piles are installed in sections. The first section must be long enough to go from a few meters above the top of the jacket to the mudline and the other sections must be field welded to the first section at an elevation slightly higher than the top of the jacket legs. When all the piles have been driven into the soil, they must be trimmed at the top of the pile elevation. The jacket will then be welded to the piles about 1.0 meters or less below the top of the piles around the scheme plate.

Resources: Goose. How Long Does It Take To Build A Rig? And Why Arent Rigs Cat 5 Certified? The Oil Drum. The Oil Drum, 28 Sept. 2005. Web. 23 Jan 2014. <http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2005/9/28/115543/198> Sadeghi, Kabir. An Overview of Design, Analysis, Construction and Installation of Offshore Petroleum Platforms Suitable for Cyprus Oil/Gas Fields? 2007. Report. 23 Jan 2014.