| When you are new and inexperienced, you will | | | | market for natural gas near the oil rigs, the gas may |
| probably only be involved in the production phase. You | | | | be collected and converted to synthetic gasoline, diesel |
| are unlikely to be called on to work in the drilling and | | | | or jet fuel . This natural gas could also be injected back |
| completion phases. | | | | into the reservoir, to extend the life of the oil well. |
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| Production - this is what you have been waiting for. | | | | Both onshore and offshore oil rigs share the same life |
| The well is connected by the pipeline to the refinery, | | | | cycle. The difference is that offshore rigs have to be |
| and the oil is finally allowed to flow. Sometimes, | | | | more robust, and have to be built on water. This results |
| additional systems called "tertiary recovery" are | | | | in more complicated logistics and a higher cost. Many |
| installed to get more oil out of the ground. Maintenance | | | | offshore oil rigs are still relatively near land, and rig |
| is also performed on the oil well, including replacing the | | | | crew are commonly transported by helicopter, e.g. oil |
| steel tubes and pumps where necessary. | | | | rigs around the US Gulf coast. For oil rigs in the deep |
| Most wells are dug to produce oil. However, many oil | | | | ocean, the rig crew have to be transported by ship. |
| rigs also produce gas as a byproduct. In the past, this | | | | Ship journeys take longer, so workers on offshore oil |
| gas is usually just burned off. Nowadays, oil companies | | | | rig rigs have to work for longer stretches, maybe 4 or |
| are more ingenious in dealing with this gas. In the US, | | | | 6 weeks instead of 2 weeks. |
| this gas is often piped to end-users. If there is no | | | | |