Drill Rigs For Sale

About Drill Rigs

In the simplest terms, a drill rig, also called a “drilling rig” or just “rig,” is a machine or equipment that’s used to create holes, or “wellbores,” in the earth’s surface in order to drill for oil, natural gas, water, or other resources. Although drill rigs can be massive, permanent structures extending beyond 100 feet tall, they can also be small or midsized structures mounted on trucks or trailers that operators can disassemble, transport to another location, and reassemble. Drill rigs can also be onshore or offshore in nature, as well as referred to a “single,” “double,” “triple,” or “quadri” rig depending on the number of pipes in the derrick. In addition to the use of engines and generators to provide power, other components can include blowout preventers, mud pumps and tanks, shale shakers, degassers, de-sanders, drawworks, derricks, rotary tables, drill bits, drill strings, and top drives. Drill techniques can include auger, Kelly, rotary, cable tool, and reverse circulation methods.

History Of Drill Rigs

Some experts consider some modern drilling techniques, including percussion and rotary, to date to 500 B.C. with China’s Han Dynasty, which used manual power to drill to shorter depths to extract natural gas. Oil field drilling depths, however, reached 2,000 feet deep by the 16th century in China. Later, prior to the 19th century when internal combustion engines came into prominence, steam engines and diamond-based drilling machines were introduced. In the 1970s, air reverse circulation drilling introduced a quicker and more efficient drilling method. Broadly speaking, over time, drilling has also shifted from being a primarily vertical operation to including directional drilling and horizontal drilling approaches. Overall, rotary drill rigs that entail the use of engines and hoisting and rotary equipment are considered the most common type of drill rig today.

Onshore & Offshore Drill Rigs

While offshore and onshore drill rigs serve the same essential purpose, they differ in makeup and cost. Besides being far less space-constrained and less expensive than offshore rigs, onshore rigs can involve smaller mobile equipment mounted on trucks and trailers. Conversely, offshore rigs are generally more permanent structures, although some offshore drill rigs entail a floating platform that integrates all the other components of the drill operation, including various equipment and tools, living quarters, and means for storage and transportation. Different types of offshore drill rigs can include barge, jack up, semi-submersible, and deep water rigs. Leading manufacturers of new and used drill rigs include Bucyrus-Erie, Gardner-Denver, Ingersoll-Rand, National Oilwell Varco (NOV), Schramm, and SJ Petro.