Paul Favret Gives a General Insight into Offshore Oil Drilling

Offshore drilling basically implies to the process of extracting petroleum reserves located beneath the oceans of the Earth, rather than the reserves on the mainland. Over the years, offshore oil rigs have developed quite significantly, and have become gigantic structures that are capable of housing hundreds of people at a time. Paul Favret mentions that some of these facilities sit on towers that may go to depths of 1220 meters below the surface, larger than just about any skyscraper.

Not all oil is accessible on land and in shallow waters. One can find oil deposits buried deep under the ocean floor as well. Offshore drilling techniques are needed to extract natural resources like gas and oil from oil reserves that are found under the ocean bed. Oil rigs are ideally constructed on the surface of the water in order to effectively carry heavy equipment and hundreds of workers. Such rigs also are equipped with the tools needed for drilling oil wells on the seabed, and are able to lower and raise drill pipes from the ocean bed during drilling.

Petroleum production has gone up to meet the rising demand since the advent of offshore drilling technology. A number of countries have become more energy independent due to offshore drilling. This process allows them to explore oceans for oil and gas, promoting self-reliance. Third world nations that border oceans are especially benefited from their oceanic oil reserves.

Paul Favret points out that while offshore oil drilling can certainly be rewarding, having the proper equipment is extremely vital to reach oil deposits through this process.  Paul has a decorated career that has spanned years of success in the energy industry. His experience in the industry makes him a good candidate to talk about oil drilling.

Oil companies ideally determine drilling sites that are most likely to produce oil with the use of sonic equipment. They subsequently use a mobile offshore drilling unit in order to dig the initial well. A few units are converted into production rigs, which imply that they switch from drilling for oil to capturing oil once it is found. In most of the cases, the oil company replaces the mobile offshore drilling unit with a more permanent oil production rig in order to capture oil.

A submersible mobile offshore drilling unit typically comprises of a barge that sits on the floor of the sea, at the depth of around thirty to thirty-five feet. There are steel posts that extend above the water line on the deck of the bark. A drilling platform rests on top of the steel posts. Such rigs are generally used in areas with calm water. Semisubmersibles, on the other hand, float on the surface of the ocean on the op of huge submerged pontoons. A few of them have propulsion systems that enable them to navigate to drilling sites under their own power while others need a second vessel to tow them to the right location.