Jackup

What is a Jackup Drilling Rig?

A jackup drilling rig is a type of rig with legs that can be self-extended down to the seabed and lift the jack up from the sea to provide required air cap for waves and weather. The jackup drilling rig can float with the legs up and be moved by either own propulsion or towed by other vessels into the drilling site.

Jack Up Oil Rigs for Shallow Water Drilling

A jack up rig or a jack-up oil rig is a mobile rig for drilling oil and gas wells. Jack up rigs have long legs that are lowered to the seabed. When the rig is safe on the seabed, the platform deck itself is jacked up by the water.
Jack-up rigs have an obvious limitation – they cannot be used at great depths. Modern jack-up rigs can drill at sea depths of up to 500 feet (150 meters).

Jack up or Drilling Rigs Jackup Oil Rig
Jackup Rig courtesy Maersk


Jack-up rigs are also used on the Norwegian shelf, but in areas with large sea depths, floating drilling rigs or drilling vessels are used instead.
Jack-up rigs are widely used in areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Persian Gulf, in the Mediterranean and outside India and China, where many oil projects are located offshore, but not in very deep water.

The jack up rig is a floating installation that is towed by special boats from place to place. When placed over a well, three legs are jacked down to the seabed to support the well activity.

Floating Installations Towed by Barges

Jack-up rig is a floating installation that acts as a fixed installation during well activity because it is placed on the seabed with steel legs that can be jacked up and down. The hull (rig) is jacked up to a safe height above sea level. The drilling rig type is very popular and it is believed to be over 500 in use worldwide.

List of 10 Jackup Drilling Rigs

Below is a list of 10 random jack up drilling rigs from our database. Use the search function to find more.

  • Trident XVI Rig owned by Transocean Inc.
    The Trident XVI drilling rig is owned by Transocean Inc. which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Trident XVI. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a Mitsui Modec 300 C-38 and built by Mitsui at the Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Japan shipyard. The rig can be ...
  • Trident XVII Rig owned by Transocean Inc.
    The Trident XVII drilling rig is owned by Transocean Inc. which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Trident XVII. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a Mitsui Modec 300 C-38 and built by Mitsui at the Kenari Shipbuilding, Japan shipyard. The rig can be operated ...
  • Trident XX Rig owned by Transocean Inc.
    The Trident XX drilling rig is owned by Transocean Inc. which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Trident XX. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a Keppel Fels KFELS CS MOD V and built by Caspian Shipyard Co. The rig can be operated in water depths ...
  • Cuu Long Rig owned by VietSovPetro
    The Cuu Long drilling rig is owned by VietSovPetro which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Cuu Long. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a Levingston Class 111-C and built by Ishibras at the Rio DE Janeiro Brazil shipyard. The rig can be operated in ...
  • Tam Dao Rig owned by VietSovPetro
    The Tam Dao drilling rig is owned by VietSovPetro which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Tam Dao. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a Marine Structure Consultants CJ 50 and built by Far East Levingston at the Levingston, Singapore shipyard. The rig can be ...
  • Marine 50 Rig owned by Well Services Petroleum Co. Ltd.
    The Marine 50 drilling rig is owned by Well Services Petroleum Co. Ltd. which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Marine 50. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a McDermott and built by McDermott at the Morgan City LA shipyard. The rig can be operated ...
  • Transocean Mercury Rig owned by Transocean Inc.
    The Transocean Mercury drilling rig is owned by Transocean Inc. which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Transocean Mercury. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a Sonat Mercury Class and built by Upper Clyde Shipbuilders at the Upper Clyde, ClydeBANK, Scotland shipyard. The rig can ...
  • Transocean Nordic Rig owned by Global Marine/Transocean Sedco Forex
    The Transocean Nordic drilling rig is owned by Global Marine/Transocean Sedco Forex which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Transocean Nordic. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a CFEM T-2600-C1 and built by CFEM at the Dunkirkfrance shipyard. The rig can be operated in water ...
  • Trident II Rig owned by Transocean Inc.
    The Trident II drilling rig is owned by Transocean Inc. which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Trident II. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a LeTourneau Class 84-S and built by Marathon LeTourneau at the Singapore shipyard. The rig can be operated in water ...
  • Trident IV-A Rig owned by Transocean Inc.
    The Trident IV-A drilling rig is owned by Transocean Inc. which can be contacted for jobs and careers on the Trident IV-A. The Jackup is a Jackup type of rig and is designed as a LeTourneau Class 116-C and built by Marathon LeTourneau at the Brownsville, TX shipyard. The rig can be operated in ...