The AMAZING History of Offshore Drilling Rigs

[@mrpaul5726]

Brilliant, enjoyed that

[@TROVE-1stSubsurface]

Thanks again Mr Paul. Appreciate your support.

[@colinhiggins6237]

Nice piece of work and fascinating. Perhaps the use of inshore submersible barge rigs should have got a mention? Popular in Louisiana and we’re early steps in taking land rigs into shallow protected waters.

[@TROVE-1stSubsurface]

Bizarrely, this is my 3rd attempt to post an answer. The other two disappeared into the ether. That seems to happen on KZbin. Does anybody know why. The barge rigs were, and still are, a proving ground for offshore drilling.

[@helgekreutz7089]

Calling a well "the first North Sea well" will always be a controversial issue. You could claim that the first well in the North Sea was drilled in 1938 over 40 km from the coast....but this was done by a landrig located on the island Heligoland (well Helgoland 1, TD of 3100 m, drilled for Carboniferous coal which was not reached). You could also claim that well KDZ-1, drilled by the Triton 1961 in the Dutch sector was the first North Sea well.....but this well was located inside the territorial waters because the continental shelf convention had not yet been ratified. How about the first and so far only exploration well in the North Sea for which a new platform had been built prior to discovery? It was not a case of "development before exploration", but just a case of high rig costs why a production-style platform was put in place for Conoco exploration well 49/17-1 (UK sector). Or the last North Sea well drilled in submersible mode? It was drilled by the Ocean Prince, a semisub that broke apart in the attempt.

[@TROVE-1stSubsurface]

Hi Helge, Thanks for these examples which pre-date the North Sea well we quoted. We didn't do thorough research into the North Sea sector wells, as we were focused on the first offshore well globally. Many sources cite US wells, whereas there seems strong evidence that Azerbaijan may have had the first offshore well. Perhaps a future thesis for someone studying the history of the O&G industry. Hope all goes well for you. ATB, Mike

[@GeoGuy-fx7ky]

There's a fascinating retelling of the Sea Gem disaster in a video if you google: "energy voice sea gem remembrance video" Mr Kevin Topham (the last survivor of the disaster) gives his harrowing account. I believe it was the 2nd ever offshore drilling disaster, after the C.P. Baker Drilling Barge disaster (gulf od Mexico, 1964) - please correct me if im wrong.

[@TROVE-1stSubsurface]

Thanks GeoGuy. Appreciate your input. I have had a quick look in our TROVE HSE database and found the following entry: Qatar-1, jack-up rig, Arabian Gulf, December 1956, 20 fatalities. The pontoons supporting the rig collapsed during towing operations. Don't have too many details, but the first we have in our database. ATB, Mike

[@kilershakazulu400]

Could you do video of Somalia huge oil and gas reserves?

[@TROVE-1stSubsurface]

I am aware of great potential for prospective resources but not aware of huge reserves. More exploration is needed. Perhaps there is a prize there to be unlocked but for now there is not much attention by the global E&P community. Coastline are trying to unlock the potential but there aren't too many other companies active, last I looked. Happy to be corrected, as ever......