Quest for Oil: the free Maersk strategy game on oil drilling

Maersk, a conglomerate based in Copenhagen with interests in transportation and energy, released Quest for Oil as a free game with worldwide distribution. It draws on two of the group's units, Maersk Drilling and Maersk Oil, and was meant to open the oil business to anyone. Trade press at the launch described it as a way to educate the public and to attract talent, with deep-water settings off Qatar and in the North Sea.

Players search for oil on a seismic map, position drilling rigs and extract oil while monitoring temperature and pressure. The player competes against a digital opponent and has to read the layers of the earth, detect reservoirs and decide where to drill. Understanding the geology is what decides who wins.

A round has two phases. In the drilling phase the player first chooses a rig by browsing its characteristics and price, then marks the spot and controls the drilling itself. The aim is to drill fast and safely while watching for warnings about a possible blowout or a pressure differential.

In the production phase the player picks a production platform and confirms the location and size of the reservoir. Oil is released from the reservoir rock by injecting water and natural gas, and the right pressure adjustment is the crux. The last step is choosing how to transport the oil to a refinery.

Test runs with students showed strong interest, and some said the layered view of the earth changed how learning felt. The game places the player on a rig with 53,000 tonnes of steel in the ground.

The game's own web address, QuestforOil.com, no longer loads in November 2026, and no official page offering the game could be found. The game is not listed here as retired, because no page says so.

Oil and gas training has a longer record in the directory than this one title. See the earlier oil drilling 3D simulators and the high-risk training collection for oil and gas. Current statuses are tracked in the games directory.