Understanding Onshore - Offshore Drills
Seeing a 'ship' (in layman’s terms) stand alone in an ocean, one cannot but wonder what they really mean.
Coming across terms used in the oil and gas industry or seeing a 'ship' (in layman’s terms) stand alone in an ocean, one cannot but wonder what they really mean or what they are used for by players in the industry.
WHY THIS TOPIC?
The understanding of offshore and onshore oil drilling guides your assessment of the oil and gas sector. The knowledge of their respective costs and benefits assists investors in making informed decisions.
OFFSHORE
Here, drilling takes place in ocean waters. Structures like a 'ship' on water with legs serving as anchors to the ocean (also known as oil platform) is the oil drilling site. With different equipment, oil is explored from various depths of the seabed.
ONSHORE
Here, the drilling sites are located on land and requires drilling of deep holes down to the earth surface to reach the earth below.
While onshore drilling takes a matter of days, offshore drilling takes longer time (months, years). Also, owing to the location of offshore drilling, it tends to cost more than onshore drilling.
Nevertheless, Offshore drilling generates more barrels of oil daily and can produce at the same high volume for 10 to 20 years.
Basically, offshore drilling costs more than onshore drilling but with a higher production volume.
Peter Okediya ACIARB (UK) is a writer, an avid researcher and a law student with a strong background in energy law. Peter is the content creator for The Energy Brief, a growing modern newsletter which serves the purpose of publishing contents, insights and updates in the global and local energy industry. Click the Subscribe button. For more info: energybriefwithpeter@gmail.com