A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water

wells, in the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing
equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or
they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person and such are called
augers. Drilling rigs can sample subsurface mineral deposits, test rock, soil and
groundwater physical properties, and also can be used to install sub-surface
fabrications, such as underground utilities, instrumentation, tunnels or wells.
Drilling rigs can be mobile equipment mounted on trucks, tracks or trailers, or
more permanent land or marine-based structures (such as oil platforms, commonly
called 'offshore oil rigs' even if they don't contain a drilling rig). The term
"rig" therefore generally refers to the complex equipment that is used to penetrate
the surface of the Earth's crust.

Small to medium-sized drilling rigs are mobile, such as those used in mineral
exploration drilling, blast-hole, water wells and environmental investigations.
Larger rigs are capable of drilling through thousands of metres of the Earth's
crust, using large "mud pumps" to circulate drilling mud (slurry) through the drill
bit and up the casing annulus, for cooling and removing the "cuttings" while a well
is drilled. Hoists in the rig can lift hundreds of tons of pipe. Other equipment
can force acid or sand into reservoirs to facilitate extraction of the oil or
natural gas; and in remote locations there can be permanent living accommodation
and catering for crews (which may be more than a hundred). Marine rigs may operate
thousands of miles distant from the supply base with infrequent crew rotation or
cycle.

Contents
1 History
2 Petroleum drilling industry
3 Mining drilling industry
4 Mobile drilling rigs
5 Drilling rig classification
5.1 By power used
5.2 By pipe used
5.3 By height
5.4 By method of rotation or drilling method
5.5 By position of derrick
5.6 Directional drilling (DD)
6 Drilling Techniques
6.1 Auger drilling
6.2 Percussion rotary air blast drilling (RAB)
6.3 Air core drilling
6.4 Cable tool drilling
6.5 Reverse circulation (RC) drilling
6.6 Diamond core drilling
6.7 Direct push rigs
6.8 Hydraulic rotary drilling
7 Automated drill rig
8 Limits of the technology
9 New oilfield technologies
10 Causes of deviation
11 Rig equipment
12 Occupational safety
13 See also
14 References
15 External links
History

Antique drilling rig now on display at Western History Museum in Lingle, Wyoming.
It was used to drill many water wells in that area�many of those wells are still in
use.

Antique drilling rigs in Zigong, China

Until internal combustion engines were developed in the late 19th century, the main
method for drilling rock was muscle power of man or animal. The technique of oil
drilling through percussion or rotary drilling has its origins dating back to the
ancient Chinese Han Dynasty in 500 BC, where percussion drilling was used to
extract natural gas in the Sichuan province.[1] Early oil and gas drilling methods
were seemingly primitive as it required several technical skills.[1][2] The skills
involved the availability of heavy iron bits and long bamboo poles, the
manufacturing of long and sturdy cables woven from bamboo fiber, and levers. Heavy
iron bits were attached to long bamboo cables suspended from bamboo derricks and
then were repeatedly raised and dropped into a manually dug hole by having two to
six men jumping on a lever.[1] Han dynasty oil wells made by percussion drilling
was effective but only reached 10 meters deep and 100 meters by the 10th century.
[1] By the 16th century, the Chinese were exploring and drilling oil wells more
than 2000 feet deep.[2] A modernized variant of the ancient Chinese drilling
technique was used by American businessman Edwin Drake to drill Pennsylvania's
first oil well in 1859 using small steam engines to power the drilling process
rather than by human muscle.[1]

In the 1970s, outside of the oil and gas industry, roller bits using mud
circulation were replaced by the first pneumatic reciprocating piston Reverse
Circulation (RC) drills, and became essentially obsolete for most shallow drilling,
and are now only used in certain situations where rocks preclude other methods. RC
drilling proved much faster and more efficient, and continues to improve with
better metallurgy, deriving harder, more durable bits, and compressors delivering
higher air pressures at higher volumes, enabling deeper and faster penetration.
Diamond drilling has remained essentially unchanged since its inception.

Petroleum drilling industry

Oil and natural gas drilling rigs are used not only to identify geologic reservoirs
but also to create holes that allow the extraction of oil or natural gas from those
reservoirs. Primarily in onshore oil and gas fields once a well has been drilled,
the drilling rig will be moved off of the well and a service rig (a smaller rig)
that is purpose-built for completions will be moved on to the well to get the well
on line.[3] This frees up the drilling rig to drill another hole and streamlines
the operation as well as allowing for specialization of certain services, i.e.
completions vs. drilling.

Mining drilling industry

Mining drilling rigs are used for two main purposes, exploration drilling which
aims to identify the location and quality of a mineral, and production drilling,
used in the production-cycle for mining. Drilling rigs used for rock blasting for
surface mines vary in size dependent on the size of the hole desired, and is
typically classified into smaller pre-split and larger production holes.
Underground mining (hard rock) uses a variety of drill rigs dependent on the
desired purpose, such as production, bolting, cabling, and tunnelling.

Mobile drilling rigs

Mobile drilling rig mounted on a truck

In early oil exploration, drilling rigs were semi-permanent in nature and the
derricks were often built on site and left in place after the completion of the
well. In more recent times drilling rigs are expensive custom-built machines that
can be moved from well to well. Some light duty drilling rigs are like a mobile
crane and are more usually used to drill water wells. Larger land rigs must be
broken apart into sections and loads to move to a new place, a process which can
often take weeks.

Small mobile drilling rigs are also used to drill or bore piles. Rigs can range
from 100 ton continuous flight auger (CFA) rigs to small air powered rigs used to
drill holes in quarries, etc. These rigs use the same technology and equipment as
the oil drilling rigs, just on a smaller scale.

The drilling mechanisms outlined below differ mechanically in terms of the

machinery used, but also in terms of the method by which drill cuttings are removed
from the cutting face of the drill and returned to surface.