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Instead, the contractor can usually move in the regular rig and its crews right away. Once the
drilling crew members get the regular rig ready, they rig up a pile driver and drive the conductor
casing into the ground, just as Colonel Drake did at Oil Creek. Thus, people in the oil patch
sometimes call conductor casing “drive pipe.” After driving the casing, the rig crew begins drilling
inside it.
If the ground is too hard for the conductor pipe to be driven, crew members can use the
regular rig to drill the conductor hole. What's more, they may also drill the rathole and mousehole,
using special equipment on the regular rig.
MOVING EQUIPMENT TO THE SITE
After the operator selects and prepares the drill site, the contractor moves the rig to the site.
Crew members move most land rigs by loading the rig components onto trucks. The trucks then
carry the components to the site where crew members put the components back together and begin
drilling. In remote areas, such as in jungles and arctic regions, crew members may load rig
components onto cargo airplanes or helicopters. Boats often tow offshore rigs from one site to
another. On the other hand, some offshore rigs are self-propelled – that is, built-in units on the rig
provide the means to move it. Sometimes, especially where a rig has to be transported a long
distance, a special ship carries the rig.

Moving Land Rigs

Virtually all land drilling rigs are portable. If the rig is small enough to be built on a truck, a
person simply drives it from one place to another. Once at the site, the rig stays on the truck and
drilling commences. Rigs too big to fit onto one truck are designed differently. Fabricators design
medium and large rigs so that a contractor’s crew can take it apart, load its components onto several
trucks, helicopters, or cargo planes, and move it to the drilling site. At the site, crew members put
the rig together, or rig up. After they drill the well, they dismantle the rig, or rig down.
As mentioned earlier, in deserts and other flat places, the contractor may skid the rig. A rig
suitable for skidding has enormous wheels attached to the substructure, which, when engaged, allow
the rig to be towed short distances without a crew's having to dismantle it.

Moving and Setting Up Offshore Rigs
Some offshore rigs are self-propelled. Built-in engines and screws (propellers) move the rig
through the water. Rudders like those on a ship allow marine personnel to steer the rig when it is
underway. While a self-propelled rig’s speed is slow – perhaps 3 or 4 knots per hour at the fastest –
generally, the distances traveled are relatively short, so speed is not a factor. For rigs that are not
self-propelled, the contractor can hire boats to tow them.

For long moves, say from one ocean to another, the contractor may use a special ship to
carry the rig, whether it is self-propelled or not. To load the rig onto the ship crew members moor
the ship next to the rig, usually in the shallow waters of a port. At first, both the boat and the rig
float. They then flood compartments in the ship to submerge its deck below the waterline. With the
deck below the water's surface, large cranes pull the rig over to the ship’s deck. Pumps remove the
water from the compartments and the ship floats back to the water’s surface with the rig in place on
the deck.
Whether on land or offshore, once the site is prepared for the rig, the next step is for the
drilling crew to rig up – that is, to put the rig components together and prepare the rig for drilling.
So, let’s look next at rigging up.

5 Find synonyms in the text for the following words.
swamp spot
personnel pebble
expenditures shelter
topographer container

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