Offshore drilling demands enormous structures, and readers hunting for the biggest oil rig in the world are really looking for the record-holding platforms that keep global oil production running. Modern installations combine drilling equipment, processing plants, storage and housing for hundreds of workers, then do it all in some of the ocean’s worst conditions.
1. Hibernia. Sitting in the North Atlantic about 315 kilometres east of Newfoundland, Hibernia is among the largest offshore platforms ever built. Its on-bottom mass exceeds 661,000 tons, and its gross weight, ballast and stored fluids included, passes 1.1 million tons. Engineers designed it to survive the impact of a million-ton iceberg and to keep operating even if struck by bergs as large as six million tons.
2. Berkut. The largest platform of its type, Berkut weighs more than 200,000 metric tons and stands off Russia’s Pacific coast near Sakhalin Island. Built through a $12 billion international collaboration led by ExxonMobil and Rosneft, it consumed roughly 52,000 cubic metres of concrete and 27,000 tonnes of steel, and it is rated for temperatures down to -44 C, waves up to 18 metres and horizontal drilling seven kilometres out.
3. Troll A. In the North Sea off Norway, Troll A is the tallest structure ever moved by human hands, standing in more than 1,210 feet of water. Its high-strength concrete, reinforced by steel rods and prestressed tendons, supports gas production from the Troll field.
4. Perdido. In the Gulf of Mexico, Perdido is the deepest spar platform in the world. Shell operates the floating facility in about 2,450 metres of water above wells tapping oil and gas nearly two miles down.
5. Petronius. Also in the Gulf, Petronius rises about 2,001 feet from the ocean floor, one of the tallest freestanding structures on Earth. Rather than fight the sea, it was designed to sway gently with currents and tides, which helps it survive storms.
A sixth entry, the Olympus platform, completes the list of the most impressive drilling structures ever built. For more record-chasing engineering, see our guides to the steepest road in the world and the most dangerous volcano in the world, and for the full breakdown, the original report on HowStuffWorks.