Oil and gas games: simulators for rig safety and drilling training
Oil and gas games are training simulators in which recruits rehearse dangerous platform and rig tasks before doing them for real. Five examples from 2011 are described here, and none of them could be confirmed as available in November 2026.
Updated
Five simulators for the oil and gas industry
Oil and gas games put trainees in a virtual platform or rig and ask them to act on the tasks that carry the most risk. The videos showed trainees first exploring the platform environment and its safety procedures, then working through realistic scenarios. Scenarios named for this kind of trainer include fighting a fire, a man overboard, platform abandonment and hazard identification. Industry commentary from 2011 argued that demand for trained workers outstrips international supply, and that the growing technical complexity of the workplace pushes recruits to reach industry-defined competence quickly and safely.
Petrosims, from Kea Studios, is a first-person simulation tool for oil and gas maintenance and operations professionals. Users pick a role and a mission, then complete the task in single-player or cooperative multiplayer mode. The prototype was modeled on an actual oil platform about 25 miles off the coast of Sarawak, Malaysia.
Four more entries came from other companies. One was a training application built with 3DVIA Studio Pro for a large energy client, using CAD data created in CATIA. Snubco Group commissioned 3DI Studios, based in Edmonton, Alberta, to build a simulator of its S-9 Rig Assist Snubbing Jack; the video for it is a compilation of footage captured from the simulation software during operation. Coole Immersive offered a service rig training program meant to put new workers on the job sooner and with fewer costly incidents. KCA DEUTAG presented DART, its Drilling and Advanced Rig Training simulator and well engineering system.
What is true today
None of the five could be confirmed as available. The address petrosims.com does not load in November 2026, and no other official page for Petrosims was found. The address kcadeutag.com forwards to hpinc.com, the site of an unrelated company, so that address does not show DART. The 3DVIA application, the snubbing jack simulator and the service rig trainer have no product page that could be found.
The five entries differ in what they train. Petrosims and the service rig trainer cover general platform and well-site work, the snubbing jack simulator trains operators on one piece of equipment, and DART covers drilling and well engineering. The 3DVIA application shows what the game engine can render from engineering data.
Questions about oil and gas games
What are oil and gas games used for?
Training for high-risk work. Trainees practice tasks such as firefighting, man overboard drills, platform abandonment and hazard identification in a simulated platform or rig.
Is Petrosims still available?
Its availability cannot be confirmed. The address petrosims.com no longer loads, and no official page for the product was found.
Which companies built these simulators?
Kea Studios made Petrosims, 3DI Studios made the snubbing jack simulator for Snubco Group, Coole Immersive offered service rig training and KCA DEUTAG presented DART. The energy client behind the 3DVIA application is not named.