We left the house at 7 in the morning with a driver hired by Total, the company my father works for. It was so early and I was very tired from being out late the night before, so naturally I slept most of the 5 hours to the oil rig. I woke up just as the car was turning onto a dirt road, which we drove on for a very long time, a lot longer than I expected. When we got there it was just beginning to get overcast, but the people were bright as ever and greeted us with enthusiasm.
The rig itself was incredible. Over 10 stories tall! It was astounding. Before touring the rig, we met some people in charge and other workers, and sat around drinking coffee and socializing, in my case watching T.V. Then we got ready to take a tour. First we had to watch a video about Total, the company, and a safety and information video about the plant. I learned all about oil extraction and other stuff about the oil rig. This specific plant hasn't had an accident in 635 days. Woah! Although there was an "incident" with a man carrying a hose and the top popped off and could have killed someone. Besides that, the run a tight ship at the plant. We had to put on heavy duty boots, heavy duty shirts, glasses, safety hats, and we had to take off all metal jewelry. Then it was off to the rig!
We first saw the bits for drilling, of course. We saw used bits and new bits, small bits and big bits, sharp bits and smooth bits, all different kinds. Some bits were for soft soil like sand, some were for tougher parts in the land like stone. Then we went around to the oil tanks, which were considerable larger than any oil tank I have ever seen. They were gigantic!! and there were 6 of them!! After that we saw the building where they store the chemicals they use at the plant. There were barrels upon barrels or toxic chemicals. Then we saw the part of the plant where the collect, store, and use mud for the extraction of oil. There were giant filters for sifting mud. After seeing the valves where the pressure is reduced to a stream, we made our way up the numerous stairs to the main platform of the oil rig, where workers were lowering a bit into the hole. I looked around at the giant 100 foot oles and asked what they were, my dad said that they were all put into the hole, attached to each other, 5,000 meter (15,000 feet) below the surface. I started to get a headache, I though it was the smell of the oil and machinery, but in the end it was my safety helmet secured too tightly. After fixing that problem, we descended down to the part of the plant that tests and filters oil. We walked on grates over flowing pools of thick black oil, it was pretty neat. After that we went back to the trailers and had more coffee and ate sandwiches and I watched a movie. Then we went to the camp and were shown our sleeping quarters. It was nice actually I had my own room and we shared a bathroom. After settling in, we took a jeep to a warehouse where a select group of workers greeted us and we ate delicious steak cooked on a homemade grill made from parts of pipes and other scrap materials. I must say the grill looked professional and I was very impressed, not to mention the steak was incredible. After the we went back to the camp and I promptly fell asleep. In the morning we went to a site about 40 minutes away that was to be the next drilling spot when they are finished drilling at the current site. It was a beautiful site with a backdrop of the amazing surrounding mountains and light jungle. After that we ate a big lunch back at the camp and left. The drive back didn't seem as long but I was glad to have a break at a cute restaurant for coffee/coca-cola. When we got back I was beat, which was weird considering I had just sat in a car for 5 hours, but I didn't think too much about why I was tired, I was just happy to have some rest.
So, that was my weekend. It was an amazing experience seeing how oil is extracted. There is so much more information that I now possess about drilling that I didn't put in this post. It's just too much to sum up. It really was an incredible learning experience.
Here are some pictures:
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