USA Mission 6: Offshore Oil

[Didz]

I thought I'd share my understanding of how the offshore oil rig works in USA Mission 6, as i know from other threads on this forum that its a cause of some confusion.

First of all as mentioned elsewhere the offshore oil platform is effectively functions as a freight station. So, there is no need to build a harbour to dock your ships, the oil rig is a harbour and your ships can just go straight to it.

The second point of note is that for some reason it only produces oil when a ship is docked at it, or if it does then its very little. So, to get the most oil from it you need to have an oil tanker constantly docked with it.

In other words more than one ship on the line.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1282410274
As you can see I currently have three ships on the line and two of them are already full and heading back to Houston. The third is currently being filled, and I'll probably need to add a fourth to keep the rig fully operational

[chrisasnyder]

Let me also add that the whole point of the oil rig is to provide a source of oil in case you are unable to complete the mission before using up all the oil on the land sources. It gives you an unlimited supply to finish the mission. It's not needed at all if you solve the mission's puzzle correctly.

[Didz]

Originally posted by chrisasnyder:

Let me also add that the whole point of the oil rig is to provide a source of oil in case you are unable to complete the mission before using up all the oil on the land sources. It gives you an unlimited supply to finish the mission. It's not needed at all if you solve the mission's puzzle correctly.

There's a puzzle?

I thought this was the first mission I'd found where there wasn't one. i've just been shipping oil to the refinery and exporting the fuel.

As far as the offshore oil is concerned, as you rightly say it's unlimited, and I'm getting just over $1M per ship load. Not quite a lucrative as a full oil train (e.g. $4m-$5M) but not as expensive either. It also gives my fuel trucks something to carry back to the refinery from the docks.

[chrisasnyder]

Originally posted by Didz:

There's a puzzle?

Yes, getting all the medals. To get them all takes some planning and understanding of the game mechanics.

[Didz]

Originally posted by chrisasnyder:

Originally posted by Didz:

There's a puzzle?

Yes, getting all the medals. To get them all takes some planning and understanding of the game mechanics.

Oh! Right! Already done that so i guess i solved the puzzle without even recognising it as a puzzle.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1283654761
I thought you meant something overtly puzzling like find the golden nugget.

[greatempty]

just wondering how it's done in the real world, the options would be: 1)pipeline to shore; 2)a big offshore storage tank periodically serviced by a tanker; or 3)pumping from the sea floor directly into a waiting tanker. Apparently the game simulates #3?