Petroleum Survey discovers U-boat

Shipwrecks revealed during routine scan of Gulf of Mexico seabed for new pipelines.

 

During World War II, U-boats prowled the Gulf of Mexico to disrupt the flow of oil carried by tankers departing ports in Louisiana and Texas. Sixty years later, seabed surveys found U-166 — and its last victim.

Petroleum exploration and production companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico’s outer continental shelf routinely provide government scientists with sonar data for areas with potential archaeological value. (more…)

Mr. Charlie, First Mobile Offshore Drilling Rig

The 1954 platform design and technologies declared a mechanical engineering landmark.

 

Mr. Charlie originated with Navy World War II veteran Alden “Doc” LaBorde, who believed a self-sufficient oil rig could be placed on a barge for deeper offshore drilling. LaBorde’s Mr. Charlie — the world’s first mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) — has since served as a “glimpse into the past” of the modern energy industry. (more…)

Offshore – Piers, Platforms and Barges

America’s offshore petroleum industry began with drilling and production from platforms constructed on lakes in Ohio and Louisiana, and on California oil piers. In Ohio, state geologists reported oil wells drilled on Grand Lake as early as 1891. Dozens of wells  on Louisiana’s Caddo Lake also produced oil in 1911. 

By 1897, Henry Williams  had successfully pursued the giant Summerland, California, oilfield to the scenic cliff side beaches of Santa Barbara.

California Oil Piers

With reports of “tar balls” on the beaches from natural offshore oil seeps, Williams recognized that the highly productive field extended into the Pacific Ocean. He and his associates constructed a 300 foot pier, mounted a cable-tool derrick, and began drilling. (more…)

Offshore Rig Patent of 1869

Thomas Rowland’s Continental Iron Works produced gas fittings, welded oil storage tanks, and a famous ironclad.

 

The origins of the modern offshore oil exploration and production industry must include the 1869 offshore rig patent “Rock Drill” design of a skilled New York engineer. 

On May 4, 1869, Thomas Fitch Rowland, owner of Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, New York, received a U.S. patent for an unusual “submarine drilling apparatus.” His patent (No. 89,794) for a fixed, offshore drilling platform came just 10 years after America’s first commercial oil discovery in Titusville, Pennsylvania.

(more…)

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