AIR BP UK LTD
- EAST MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
DE74 2SA DERBY, DERBYSHIRE
Phone: 01332 810459
www.bp.com
Short profile:
BP has transformed: growing from a local oil company into a global energy group; employing over 80, 000 people and operating in over 80 countries worldwide.
There may be no more unexplored frontiers on earth, but deep inside the earth there is plenty that we don’t yet know.
Oil companies have a range of technologies to help them locate oil and gas reservoirs deep beneath land and sea. But the search remains a complex business. Success is never certain.
In the early days of oil exploration, oil companies and prospectors really had no idea what they were looking for. They focused their search on areas near seepages, where oil bubbled up naturally in pools. Then they sunk a drill and hoped for the best.
The rate of success has improved greatly since those early discoveries, from 10% or less to more like 50%. New technologies developed by BP and others may improve the odds even further.
Detailed description:
Over the past 150 years, oil companies and prospectors have drilled more than two million wells around the world in hopes of striking oil. Many of the early wells turned out to be dry
We use sophisticated technologies and tried-and-true techniques to find oil and gas under the earth’s surface.
More recently, scientific techniques and new technologies have greatly improved the odds.
Before we put drill to soil or the seabed, we use typographical maps, aerial photography, sound waves, 3D projections and other tools to help us form an educated guess about the size, shape and consistency of the oil or natural gas that lies underneath.
Why are oil and natural gas so difficult to locate? The best way to answer this is to look at how oil and gas came into being in the first place.
When all the experts have been consulted, the risks have been assessed, the environmental studies have been carried out and the data has been compiled into workable maps of the exploration site, it’s time to send in the drilling crew.
Before any drilling begins on land we may have to build access roads, construct a temporary power station or install wells for the water supply. In fragile habitats or very remote places helicopters or barges may be the only responsible way to get equipment and supplies into place.
Drilling for oil in the winds, currents and choppy waters of the open seas is even more challenging. The most difficult part is getting a drilling rig to stay in position despite the currents and waves.
Keywords:
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