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Oilfield Blowout Photos, Rig Fires and Wild Well Photos Texas Oilfield Photos Photos of Pumpjacks: Pg1 Pg2 Antique Oilfield Misc : Pg 1 Pg2 Pumpjacks and Bluebonnets Photos of Tanks Production Equip. Photos of Wells Pipeline Photos Pg1 Pg2 Wildlife Alternative Energy Photos Wind Energy Photos 1 2 Electricity Industry 1 2 The Oilfield Bookstore, Oil & Gas Industry and Geology Books The New Albany Shale. Map and Info The Bakken Shale. Maps and Info Utica Shale The Barnett Shale Texas Geology Map What A Mudlogger Does What A Gyro Hand Does What is Enhanced Oil Recovery? How Oil and Gas Wells Are Drilled Horizontally History of The Yates Oilfield In Iraan, TX The Job Of An Oilfield Pumper What's A BOP? What Happens When An Oil Well Is Drilled On Your Land Boosting Internet Wireless On An Oil Rig Location What Are Personal Emergency Beacons? Eagle Ford Shale Oilfield Jobs
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Oilfield Blowout Photos, Accidents, Mishaps and Oil Rig Fires The following are some of the photos of oilfield blowouts and mishaps that I have collected. Most have been sent to me by e-mail by co-workers and friends and have been circulating in the public domain for some time with no attribution to the author. If any of the following photos belongs to you an you want it removed, please e-mail me here: Contact Note that none of the following photos is available for purchase or use. Oilfield blowouts are far less common than they were in the early days of the oilfield, thanks to better drilling mud programs, better BOP (blowout protectors) and safety drills to use them when a kick is detected. However an under - balanced situation, (where the mud weight is not sufficient to hold back pressures that may be encountered while drilling,) can still lead to a blowout if the BOP is not employed quickly enough. An oil rig blowout may happen underground as well, although this rarely has the same dramatic effect as a surface oilfield blowout. Why Oil Rig Blowout Accidents Happen. Blowouts happen when a pressurized underground zone is encountered while drilling, and the weight of the drilling mud is insufficient to hold back the pressure. Natural gas and fluid then travels from the highly pressurized zone to an under-pressured zone, whether it is the surface or a less pressurized zone above it that has already been drilled through. In the case of a "kick", the BOP can be shut in and a blowout situation prevented. If the pressure is extreme, or the crew is caught off guard when drilling under-balanced, a kick can result in a blowout. The threat of oilfield blowouts
and wild well fires is very real. Mud engineers
have to constantly monitor their mud weight to be ready for pressurized zones. The
man on the mud pits must monitor mud weight coming out and going in, and the
trip tank needs to be watched for gain. If the level in the trip tank, where
displaced
fluid goes when drill pipe is put into the hole, is greater than the displacement of
the drill pipe, the well may be about to take a kick. Do Not Copy This
Page
Drillers must keep the hole full when removing pipe from the well, since the weight of the whole fluid column, or hydrostatic pressure, helps hold back gas from pressurized zones entering the well bore. A good mudlogger can help prevent a blowout by interpreting indications of higher pore pressure, such as heaving shale and increases in connection gas, drilling breaks and other clues.
Oil rig blowout in Algeria. The drilling rig has been burned to the ground.
Oil rig blowout in Turkmenistan, No fire thank goodness. Above Right, Piper Alpha oil rig fire in the North Sea. One of the deadliest oilfield blowouts in history occurred on the Piper Alpha in the North Sea, which was operated by Occidental Petroleum. One hundred and sixty men perished as a result of the explosions and fire on board the Piper Alpha, including two operators of a Fast Rescue Craft. Sixty two men survived, mostly by jumping into the sea from the high decks of the platform.
Inland barge oil rig blowout. Canadian oil rig blowout.
Brooks Alberta oil rig blowout, truck rig. Temsah offshore oil rig blowout, Egypt.
Celtic drilling rig blowout. 1992 Inland waters oil rig blowout, U.S.
East Texas drilling rig blowout. Offshore drilling rig blowout. Below, Offshore rig blowout. An oilfield blowout can cause a semi-submersible oil rig or drilling ship to sink since the gas bubbles cause the rig to loose buoyancy.
Oil rig blowout and fire. TRG Rig 131 A tragic situation but a great photo of a drilling rig crashing and burning after an oilfield blowout in Oklahoma. Photographer C. Keevert. Below, An Interesting Transformation After an Offshore Rig Blowout. Below is a photo of the Ocean Odyssey blowout in the U.K, in 1988. A blowout of an offshore rig is even more dangerous than a drilling rig on land. The only escape besides the lifeboat is often a freezing sea, as was the case in the Piper Alpha accident where so many lives were lost. Below, the oil rig Ocean Odyssey was towed in after the fire, and refurbished into a satellite launching station. The first photo is of the oil rig fire, the second is of an offshore satellite launch from an oil rig reborn as a spaceport.
For You tube videos of oil drilling rig blowouts click here. Oil Rig Blowout Videos |
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