Nabors Rig Falls Near Belfield | Video

Jennifer Joas | 11/15/2012

Drivers are used to seeing oil rigs in western North Dakota. But this Nabors Drilling rig has drivers pulling over to the side of the road to snap a picture because the 250,000 pound mast was bent in half.

"I was like, `Wow. That looks like it hurt,`" said Tracy Stout from Wyoming.

"I thought it looked kind of scary. And I just kind of wondered what had happened," said Linda Rosenlund from Watford City.

Crews had just finished drilling and were in the process of rigging down when this massive piece of machinery fell.

Denny Smith with Nabors Drilling says during the rigging down process, crews remove the pins that hold the mast to the frame. Then they hook up cable lines to lower the mast down to the horizontal position, much like a crane. Smith says there were roughly eight to ten workers on site when the incident occurred.

But no one was injured.

"I am glad nobody was hurt. It is something of magnitude that I had not seen," said Texas resident James Richie.

Nabors says what caused the mast to bend is still unknown. They say the derrick is repairable, and after they collect all the data, they will use the cranes to take the mast apart in pieces.

Oil workers say it was a sight to see, but it does not surprise them.

"It is a dangerous field out here. Anything could happen. Everybody tries to be as safe as they can," said Richie.

Whiting Petroleum is the operator of the well. It says having the broken derrick on the site will not hamper production because it takes two to three weeks for the next phase of drilling to take place.

OSHA initiated an investigation, but Nabors Drilling exercised its right to keep OSHA out. OSHA is now trying to get a warrant to go in.

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