Lotion to keep your skin silky smooth.
Antihistamines to keep your allergies at bay.
Lipstick to make you feel even prettier.
Guitar strings that pluck at your heart.
Umbrellas to keep you dry.
What do all of these items have in common? They are made using petroleum.
Living in Houston with a brother in Aberdeen and a boyfriend working offshore, my life is surrounded by the oil industry. Therefore, I felt it only fitting to take the time to visit the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum in Galveston to better acquaint myself with the word surrounding me.
Parking off 20th st, it is a short walk to Pier 19 where the jack-up now sits mat down on Galveston Bay. Having paid in the gift shop, you walk towards the now retired Diamond Offshore drilling rig, an impressive sight, growing in grandeur as you get closer. Entering the first deck of the rig you are greeted by wonderfully friendly and intelligent docents who will gladly answer any questions you may have for them as you work your way through the museum.
The Ocean Star is one of the most educational museums I have ever been to. It was absolutely fascinating. Here you are able to see the different size drill bits & pipe used learning how, why and when they are needed. Watch a video or enjoy one of the scale models to obtain a better visual of how petroleum is obtained from the Earth.
The museum is a three leveled educational jewel. The first floor teaches you about the geology & science behind drilling as well as the drilling equipment and technology used. Along with the geological exhibits the first floor houses subsea equipment and the legendary Billy Pugh.
It is no mystery that to get out to a land rig you drive, but ever wonder how the crew get onto the rigs offshore? Wonder no more! See a real Billy Pugh, the basket that hoists personnel from work boats below 50 plus feet up onto the rig. Hold on to the ropes and imagine what it would be like to hang on for dear life hoping it's nickname "the widowmaker" is just a bad joke. Those who don't get hoisted into the air off ships get to take a much more luxurious route in on helicopters from the shore.
Wanting to keep my feet on the ground, we headed outside onto the lower pipe deck where you get your first glimpse of where the real magic happens. On your starboard side the life boat is buried between the wireline control cabin and directional drilling shack. On a functional rig the lifeboats would be attached to a davit over the side but for educational purposes it was cool to see it on the deck. Walking around the aft of the rig towards the port side you are slapped in the face by a massive Halliburton label written along the side of the cementing unit. The large red machine however is dwarfed by the port side crane looming over you. Heading back towards the door to the rig we passed a tall green pole covered in valves where the crew, with any luck, celebrates Christmas year round (as it is called the Christmas tree.)
Back inside and moving up the stairs you find yourself swimming in the deep blue, surrounded by an exhibit dedicated to life under the sea. Here you learn about the ecological impact of the offshore rigs and peer through windows into the underwater half of a two story offshore model. The models in the museum are amazing and walking through the rest of the second level you get to see massive models of various aspects of a rig from well completion to subsea equipment. In fact, the models are so detailed that little imagination is necessary to understand their purpose or size. There is even a depth comparison of offshore structures display to help you grasp a concept of the rigs size.
Now that you have learnt about the process of finding and obtaining petroleum it is time to make your way to the third floor to peer down upon the model you had just been observing from down below. However, the top level is not just a fabulous model, here you learn about transportation of the rigs and the petroleum they produce. The top level also has a fantastic display of life on a rig. Try on a hard hat and coveralls, see the rooms the crew sleep in and examples of the food they get to eat. You can even sit in the drillers plush Recaro cyber chair and feel like Bruce Willis in Armageddon for just a moment. A major part of life on a rig is safety, and here you can also learn about the safety measures and procedures on an offshore rig that get the hardworking crew to the end of their hitch so they can make it home in one piece.
Leaving the crew quarters you head out onto the top deck where you walk along the cat walk stopping to glance down upon the equipment on the main deck. Arriving on the Rig Floor you can peer into the doghouse to see where the driller sits and look at the various parts needed to actually drill for oil from the vital BOP accumulator and choke manifold to the travelling block and the kelly.
Standing at the bottom of the derrick looking up it is impossible to deny the beauty in this industrial machine. It is flabbergasting to think of the impact rigs, just like this one have on humanity. No matter how hard you try it is almost impossible to use or consume something that has not in some way, shape or form been positively touched by the production of petroleum. That is what makes this museum interesting. You get to see how rigs are managed and maintained, how the oil is found and extracted, and what happens from there. We fill our cars with petrol and eat our food that traveled halfway across the country in trucks fueled with petrol without truly knowing where that oil comes from and what it takes to obtain it. The Ocean Star museum makes learning about the nitty-gritty world of oil and gas fun and intriguing. I highly recommend that anyone who finds themselves in Texas, make their way out to Galveston to visit the Ocean Star. It is a trip that you will not regret.
Living in Houston with a brother in Aberdeen and a boyfriend working offshore, my life is surrounded by the oil industry. Therefore, I felt it only fitting to take the time to visit the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum in Galveston to better acquaint myself with the word surrounding me.
Parking off 20th st, it is a short walk to Pier 19 where the jack-up now sits mat down on Galveston Bay. Having paid in the gift shop, you walk towards the now retired Diamond Offshore drilling rig, an impressive sight, growing in grandeur as you get closer. Entering the first deck of the rig you are greeted by wonderfully friendly and intelligent docents who will gladly answer any questions you may have for them as you work your way through the museum.
The museum is a three leveled educational jewel. The first floor teaches you about the geology & science behind drilling as well as the drilling equipment and technology used. Along with the geological exhibits the first floor houses subsea equipment and the legendary Billy Pugh.
It is no mystery that to get out to a land rig you drive, but ever wonder how the crew get onto the rigs offshore? Wonder no more! See a real Billy Pugh, the basket that hoists personnel from work boats below 50 plus feet up onto the rig. Hold on to the ropes and imagine what it would be like to hang on for dear life hoping it's nickname "the widowmaker" is just a bad joke. Those who don't get hoisted into the air off ships get to take a much more luxurious route in on helicopters from the shore.
Wanting to keep my feet on the ground, we headed outside onto the lower pipe deck where you get your first glimpse of where the real magic happens. On your starboard side the life boat is buried between the wireline control cabin and directional drilling shack. On a functional rig the lifeboats would be attached to a davit over the side but for educational purposes it was cool to see it on the deck. Walking around the aft of the rig towards the port side you are slapped in the face by a massive Halliburton label written along the side of the cementing unit. The large red machine however is dwarfed by the port side crane looming over you. Heading back towards the door to the rig we passed a tall green pole covered in valves where the crew, with any luck, celebrates Christmas year round (as it is called the Christmas tree.)
Back inside and moving up the stairs you find yourself swimming in the deep blue, surrounded by an exhibit dedicated to life under the sea. Here you learn about the ecological impact of the offshore rigs and peer through windows into the underwater half of a two story offshore model. The models in the museum are amazing and walking through the rest of the second level you get to see massive models of various aspects of a rig from well completion to subsea equipment. In fact, the models are so detailed that little imagination is necessary to understand their purpose or size. There is even a depth comparison of offshore structures display to help you grasp a concept of the rigs size.Now that you have learnt about the process of finding and obtaining petroleum it is time to make your way to the third floor to peer down upon the model you had just been observing from down below. However, the top level is not just a fabulous model, here you learn about transportation of the rigs and the petroleum they produce. The top level also has a fantastic display of life on a rig. Try on a hard hat and coveralls, see the rooms the crew sleep in and examples of the food they get to eat. You can even sit in the drillers plush Recaro cyber chair and feel like Bruce Willis in Armageddon for just a moment. A major part of life on a rig is safety, and here you can also learn about the safety measures and procedures on an offshore rig that get the hardworking crew to the end of their hitch so they can make it home in one piece.
Leaving the crew quarters you head out onto the top deck where you walk along the cat walk stopping to glance down upon the equipment on the main deck. Arriving on the Rig Floor you can peer into the doghouse to see where the driller sits and look at the various parts needed to actually drill for oil from the vital BOP accumulator and choke manifold to the travelling block and the kelly.
Standing at the bottom of the derrick looking up it is impossible to deny the beauty in this industrial machine. It is flabbergasting to think of the impact rigs, just like this one have on humanity. No matter how hard you try it is almost impossible to use or consume something that has not in some way, shape or form been positively touched by the production of petroleum. That is what makes this museum interesting. You get to see how rigs are managed and maintained, how the oil is found and extracted, and what happens from there. We fill our cars with petrol and eat our food that traveled halfway across the country in trucks fueled with petrol without truly knowing where that oil comes from and what it takes to obtain it. The Ocean Star museum makes learning about the nitty-gritty world of oil and gas fun and intriguing. I highly recommend that anyone who finds themselves in Texas, make their way out to Galveston to visit the Ocean Star. It is a trip that you will not regret.
(Offshore drilling rigs are beautiful and finally getting to see one in person I felt inspired to buy paint and canvas to do a couple paintings of offshore rigs in the setting sun that I could enjoy looking at year round.)
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