Engineers like to visit museums that show how things are done. The Ocean Star Museum is one.
How is oil drilling in the ocean done?
How are oil wells connected?
What does a drill rig look like?
These questions and many more are answered at the museum in Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico.
How done? By one of several designs of oil drill rig. The Ocean Star is the kind that is stationary after being jacked up from the sea bed.
How are wells connected? Using subsea Christmas Trees. A series of hydraulically controlled valves select which well will be accessed at any given time. Each rig connects to many wells on the sea floor using the Christmas Tree.
Looking around the Ocean Star:
The derrick.
The drill shafts (the one with the spiral fluting is used occasionally to sweep away debris).
How many oil well leases are there in the Gulf? Lots.
