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2 petroleum reservoir b a machine for hoisting and moving heavy objects, consisting of a
movable boom equipped with cables and pulleys and connected
to the base of an upright stationary beam
3 offshore c the combination of the drillpipe, the bottomhole assembly and
any other tools used to make the drill bit turn at the bottom of the
wellbore
4 derrick d a work area covered with planks around the collar of a borehole at
the base of a drill tripod or derrick
5 rig floor e unrefined petroleum or liquid petroleum
6 drill bit f the location supervisor for the drilling contractor
7 drill string g the tool used to crush or cut rock
8 drawworks h a machine which creates holes in the ground
9 crude oil i the machine on the rig consisting of a large-diameter steel spool,
brakes, a power source and assorted auxiliary devices
10 toolpusher j located at a distance from the shore

Pre-reading and while-reading tasks

3 Scan the text and answer the following questions.
- What is the purpose of a drilling rig?
- How deep is usually the hole a rig drills?
- What type of rig is it better to visit for the first time? Why?
- Why do masts and derricks have to be strong?
- Why are rig masts and derricks tall?
- What are the other names for the rig boss?
- What does everybody have to wear while visiting a drilling rig or working on it?
- What is a rig floor?
- What is a drawworks?
- What does the loud screech coming from friction brake mean?

Introduction

If you are interested in oilwell drilling, a good way to learn about it is to visit a drilling rig.
A first-time visit can be educational as well as confusing. Most drilling rigs are large and noisy and,
at times, the people who work on them perform actions that don’t make much sense to an
uninitiated observer. A drilling rig has many pieces of equipment and most of it is huge. But a rig
has only one purpose: to drill a hole in the ground. Although the rig itself is big, the hole it drills is
usually not very big — usually less than a foot (30 centimeters) in diameter by the time it reaches
final depth. The skinny hole it drills, however, can be deep: often thousands of feet or hundreds of
meters. The hole’s purpose is to tap an oil and gas reservoir, which more often than not lies buried
deeply in the earth.
Although rigs operate both on land and sea – "offshore" is the oilfield term – a land rig is
best for a first visit. In most cases, land rigs are easier to get to because you can drive to them.
Getting to offshore rigs is more complicated, because they often work many miles (kilometres)
from land and you need a boat or a helicopter to reach them.
When driving to a land rig, you'll probably see part of it long before you actually arrive at
the site, especially if the terrain is not too hilly or wooded. One of the most distinctive parts of a
drilling rig is its tall, strong structural tower called a "mast" or a "derrick". Masts and derricks are
tall and strong. They are strong because they have to support the great weight of the drilling tools,
which can weigh many tons (tonnes).
Rig masts and derricks are tall because they have to accommodate long lengths of pipe the
rig crew raises into it during the drilling process. A mast or derrick can be as high as a 10-story

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