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- What are the factors of choosing the site?
- How is the site prepared?
- What is the function of a reserve pit?
- What are the sizes of the cellars?
- In what way is the mousehole used by the drilling crew?
- What vehicles and in which situations are used for the rigs
carrying?
- What are the main functions of conductor pipes?
- How is the rathole drilled?

T he drill site – the location of the well – varies as the surface
geography of the earth varies. In the early days of the industry,
geologists and wildcatters were able to find oil and gas in places that
were generally accessible. As people began to use more hydrocarbons,
however, the oil industry extended its search for oil and gas to all
corners of the globe. Today, companies drill wells in frozen
wildernesses, remote deserts, mosquito-ridden marshes, hot and humid
jungles, high and rugged mountains, and deep offshore waters. In
short, a drill site is anywhere oil and gas exist or may exist.

CHOOSING THE SITE
The operating company decides where to drill by considering
several factors. The most important is that the company knows or
believes that hydrocarbons exist in the rocks beneath the site. In some
cases, the operator drills a well in an existing field to increase
production from it. In other cases, the operator drills a well on a site
where no one has found oil or gas before. The company often hires
geologists to find promising sites where no production exists.
Geologists explore areas to try to determine where hydrocarbons may
exist. Major companies sometimes have a staff of geologists; inde-
pendents often hire consulting geologists or buy information from a
company that specializes in geological data.

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