Around 1896, the first submerged oil wells in salt water were drilled in the portion of the Summerland field extending under the Santa Barbara Channel in California. The wells were drilled from piers extending from land out into the channel.

Other notable early submerged drilling activities occurred on the Canadian side of Lake Erie since 1913 and Caddo Lake in Louisiana in the 1910s. Shortly thereafter, wells were drilled in tidal zones along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. The Goose Creek field near Baytown, Texas is one such example. In the 1920s, drilling was done from concrete platforms in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela.

The oldest offshore well recorded in Infield's offshore database is the Bibi Eibat well which came on stream in 1923 in Azerbaijan. Landfill was used to raise shallow portions of the Caspian Sea.

In the early 1930s, the Texas Company developed the first mobile steel barges for drilling in the brackish coastal areas of the gulf.

In 1937, Pure Oil Company (now part of Chevron Corporation) and its partner Superior Oil Company (now part of ExxonMobil Corporation) used a fixed platform to develop a field in 14 feet (4.3 m) of water, one mile (1.6 km) offshore of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.

In 1946, Magnolia Petroleum Company (now part of ExxonMobil) erected a drilling platform in 18 ft (5.5 m) of water, 18 miles[vague] off the coast of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.[citation needed]

In early 1947, Superior Oil erected a drilling/production platform in 20 ft (6.1 m) of water some 18 miles[vague] off Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. But it was Kerr-McGee Oil Industries (now Anadarko Petroleum Corporation), as operator for partners Phillips Petroleum (ConocoPhillips) and Stanolind Oil & Gas (BP), that completed its historic Ship Shoal Block 32 well in October 1947, months before Superior actually drilled a discovery from their Vermilion platform farther offshore. In any case, that made Kerr-McGee's well the first oil discovery drilled out of sight of land.[2][3]

 

The British Maunsell Forts constructed during World War II are considered the direct predecessors of modern offshore platforms. Having been pre-constructed in a very short time, they were then floated to their location and placed on the shallow bottom of the Thames and the Mersey estuary.

Offshore Drilling provides the nation with some energy self-reliance , the majority of the world’s oil comes from the OPEC conglomerate that means the flow of oil and its prices are somewhat out of local control .

Although the investors can put the money into the futures market to predict higher or lower costs ,  Offshore drilling will help to limit the impact of such event occurring , Offshore Drilling offers self supporting , The oil drilling which happens offshore brings in the abundance ofpetroleum .

The fossil fuel is necessary for most everyday functions , We depend heavily on the foreign countries to supply us with the fuel , With theoffshore drilling we can gain the best state of independence and not be so vulnerable to outside influences .

Offshore Drilling creates many local jobs , The local jobs have the ability to stimulate the local economy , Local dollars that are spent locally have nearly double the value of outside dollars , So , everyone is able to improve the overall quality of life as more money typically means more services being received .

The jobs in offshore drilling will create more local jobs to support the drilling and this trickles down throughout every sector , Offshore Drilling can help the developing nation transform into the industrialized nation .

Offshore Drilling offers more jobs , It requires many skilled people to operate the equipment , It creates the entire world of jobs that benefit many people and their families , There are towns set up to revolve around and cater to the offshore drilling workers .

Offshore drilling is the method of extracting petroleum from beneath the sea , Offshore Drilling increases the oil production and the amount of oil that we have to use for the fuel and the energy , It stimulates the economy and keeps our society going .

Offshore Drilling reduces the oil prices , If the oil is being produced on home soil , then the foreign countries have no say in the prices of the oil that are often inflated , The costs of transportation are cut with the offshore drilling , So ,  the price of oil is decreased .

The oil covers the birds , So , they can’t fly and it coats the fur of the other sea species , there is not proper cleaning and treatment and one accident from offshore drilling can create a tremendously large death zone in the sea .

Offshore Drilling is the isolated job that takes on tremendous risk , Working for the oil company can be very profitable but it can be very dangerous because the offshore drilling rigs are very far from the emergency services , Just one accident can cost many lives .

If the rig needs to be abandoned and the worker is unable to swim , They will decide if they want to die by drowning or by the conditions onthe rig , Offshore Drilling offers high risk jobs , Working on an offshore oil rig is very dangerous , there are a lot of risks involved such asdrowning and the fires and it is very difficult to provide quick assistance to the worker in need .

Offshore Drilling create the pollution , No matter what the personal stance on the global warming may be , there is no denying that the offshore drilling rig produces an enormous amount of the air pollutionthat can affect the shoreline .

Offshore Drilling can contaminate the food chain , Even when the oilspills and contained or the accidents happen that are deemed to be minor , the impact on the sea life is felt throughout the entire food chain .

Offshore Drilling causes the food chain problems , when the small amount of oil is spilled into the ocean during drilling , the oilcontaminates the water that in turn contaminates the fish , It may start with the small fish , even the plankton but the fuel remnants will remain in them .

Offshore Drilling has expensive facilities , It is expensive to get started ,The equipment and the rigs that are necessary to complete the process of offshore drilling is very expensive , It takes a lot of people and training , These costs are shifted down to the taxpayers , The huge investment upfront is needed to get offshore drilling rig into place , Without the budget to get the rig started .

Offshore Drilling causes the oil spills , Most oil spillage from offshore drilling is a very real possibility , These spills cause the catastrophic damage to the environment and the marine life in the ocean .

Offshore Drilling causes huge amounts of carbon emissions , The drillswhich are used to drill into the seabed cause a very high amount of carbon emissions to be put into the atmosphere , It impacts the environment and it contributes to the growing global warming problem .

Offshore Drilling can affects on many industries , Tourism is affected with the presence of offshore drilling , Resort owners are against these activities , The environmental and tourism advocates claim that these activities drive away tourists and they will compromise the people livelihood and the establishments in these resorts .

The main compnenets needed are a drilling mast usually about 120 feet tall capable of supporting up to around 1,000,000 pounds,

a drawworks capable of pulling up to about 100,000 pounds (using multi-sheave block and tackle), traveling block, swivel and kelly, kelly bushing and rotary table plus machinery to turn the drawworks and rotary table. These are built onto a platform usually 20-30 feet above the ground. Located under the platform is a well head consisting of a blow out preventer stack and diverter.

To the side of the derrick are horizontal pipe racks and on one side of the derrick itself is a place to store pipe as it in run iin and out of the hole. A wire rope drum is there also to be able to replace worn drawworks cable.

There are power make-up tongs (a power pipe wrench)  and pipe clamp avalable on the rig floor, plus a dog house and instruments.   

Off to the side are a number of metal tanks and usually some earthen pits dug on site. And a set of two or more triple acting reciprocating slush pumps for circulating drilling mud to the traveleing block and through the drill pipe and drill bit.  Usually because of the remote locations there are diesel generators and tanks to furnish all motive power and lights.

Located above the tanks are mud treatment equipment to remove cuttings, mix mud, and de-gas the return mud. These are usually aftermarket equipment.

Also associated with a rig are a number of trailers and a well pad which are aftermarket furnished (not part of the pruchased rig). The trailser are the offices and accomodations for the HMFWIC (that's short for the company man) and various service personnel who monitor instruments and check and take care of the drilling mud. 

That is the composition of a drilling rig. The rigs are usually able to be broken down into modular parts that fit on flat bed trucks for transport to and from drilling sites where they may be for a couple of weeks to a year or more. Usually the manufacturer assembles a new rig for