Where does oil come from?

A drilling rig

Most oil and gas is trapped in reservoirs deep underground.

Powerful drills are needed to drill down to reach the oil. Drilling rigs can drill wells up to eight kilometres into the ground!

Once oil or gas has been found, it is brought to the surface using an oil rig. It is then piped, trucked, shipped or railed to where it is needed.

As oil rigs are often located a long way from towns and cities, this can mean transporting the oil hundreds or thousands of kilometres across land and sea.

In Australia, nearly 90 per cent of the oil and gas we have found is located offshore under the sea.

Onshore, most oil and gas has been found in South Australia’s Cooper Basin.