What is a rig?
The drilling rig is a machine designed for a single purpose: to drill both onshore and offshore oil and gas wells. A rig is often purpose-designed and built to withstand specific operating conditions – such as intense desert heat or below freezing temperatures.
Similarly, rigs are also used to drill wells offshore in water depths reaching up to four kilometers below the ocean’s surface. So while the location, depth of required drilling and conditions may vary, the fundamentals of drilling remain similar around the world.
There’s many parts that work together on a rig to drill a well – the interactive video produced by the International Association of Drilling Contractors details all the basics.
Offshore drilling
This video produced by Shell explains the basics of how offshore deep-water wells are drilled, including explanations and visualisation of important components, processes and techniques that drilling rigs use today to safely drill wells.