Shallow water drilling is the process of
oil and gas
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...
exploration
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
and production in less than 150 meters (500 feet) of water.
Shallow water drilling differs from deepwater drilling in several key aspects. Shallow water rigs have legs that reach the bottom of the sea floor and have blowout preventers (BOPs) above the surface of the water that are accessible for inspection, maintenance and repair, and can be controlled either remotely or manually in case of an emergency. Shallow water wells primarily produce natural gas, and are drilled in known areas and mature reservoirs.
Following the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...
, the U.S
Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
imposed a
moratorium on all offshore drilling, both deepwater and shallow water. The ban on shallow water drilling was lifted in May 2010. However, new regulations imposed on shallow water drilling have slowed the issuance of permits for new shallow water wells. Shallow water operators have called this permit slowdown a "de facto moratorium" that has forced them to idle rig workers and decrease production.
See also
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2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium
On May 30, 2010 a 6-month moratorium on all deepwater offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf was declared by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The limitation was in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which occurred ...
*
Deepwater drilling
Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shallow Water Drilling
Petroleum production