Oil Rigs Bigger than Skyscrapers?

Oil Rigs Bigger than Skyscrapers?

Questions begins to pop up about oil rigs when a TikTok video about oil rigs went viral last month.

The video, posted by a structural engineer showed the structures of the underwater and how it can span lengths greater than the world most referenced skyscrapers.

The said video which received over 13.5 million views brings to limelight the size of Bullwinkle.

Bullwinkle is a 1,736 feet long oil platform located in the Gulf of Mexico. It can scan over 1,000 feet in length.

There are diverse types of oil rigs from floating to fixed platforms, Bullwinkle however is worthy of note as delivered in the Tiktok video.

The video entails a sketch of the 77,000 ton platform in the video dwarfs the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building.

Even while businesses seek alternative energy sources, humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels has led to the construction of some of the world’s largest structures, ranging from floating platforms that accommodate and hire hundreds of people to humongous manufacturing facilities atop thousands-foot-tall undersea towers.

Underwater, the entirety of the structure’s total height — 1,353 feet — is obscured. The structure was one of the world’s highest when it was completed in 1988.

Superior Energy Services purchased the platform from Shell in 2010, with the intention of decommissioning the rig when it hit the end of its life cycle. Shell predicted the platform’s lifespan to be around 35 years in 1988.

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Bullwinkle is one of the world’s tallest oil platforms today, but newer rigs, such as the Petronius Complaint Tower, can reach heights of over 2,000 feet.

The Bullwinkle platform is a fixed platform, which means it touches the ground and can withstand the same amount of pressure on land as it does at sea, however it is one of numerous types of oil platforms.

In another video, the TikToker dissected different types of platforms.

Fixed platforms, such as the Bullwinkle, are made of steel trusses or concrete that link to the ocean’s floor directly. These structures work well in shallower water.

However, the vast majority of oil rigs are built to float. Tension Leg Platforms are one of the many types of floating platforms available.

Tension Leg Platforms are tethered to the ocean floor by underwater tethers.

A Spar Platform is yet another kind of oil rig. These platforms are among the greatest offshore structures now in service.

They are made comprised of a huge cylinder that holds a stable rig platform in place. A system of cables and connections link the enormous cylinder to the seafloor.

Despite efforts to shift to alternative energy sources, fossil fuels were a $2.1 trillion business in 2021. Last year, the United States alone generated almost 11 million barrels of crude oil per day.