Offshore drilling - what is this?
Oil can be found deep under the ocean floor. To get the oil, it must be drilled out. To do this huge drilling rigs are built out in the sea. The worlds tallest platform is in the Gulf of Mexico. The rigs have to be very strong because they have to be able to stay standing through the storms that create huge waves and winds in the sea. The drilling rigs provide a place for the heavy drills to drill down into the rocks of the seafloor. The oil found is then sent to land by pipelines or by floating oil tankers that can carry millions of barrels of oil.