Meaning & use
oil installation
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A large structure or site built for drilling, producing, or processing oil.
Grammar: Countable: one oil installation, two oil installations. Often used in the plural when talking about a group of sites.
Patterns
- an oil installation
- oil installations in ...
- build an oil installation
The company operates several oil installations in the North Sea.
Environmental groups are worried about the effect of new oil installations on sea life.
Workers were evacuated from the oil installation because of a storm.
noununcountabletechnical
The act or process of putting oil equipment or a system in place.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means the work of installing equipment: 'the installation of oil pumps took two weeks'.
Patterns
- the installation of oil equipment
- oil installation work
Oil installation work at the site will begin next month.
The report covers the installation of oil pipelines across the region.
Word forms
| plural | oil installations |
|---|
Common combinations
- offshore oil installation
- The offshore oil installation is visible from the coast on a clear day.
- oil installation workers
- Oil installation workers often spend weeks away from home.
- a major oil installation
- A major oil installation was damaged by the fire.
- decommission an oil installation
- The government plans to decommission the old oil installation by 2030.
Synonyms and how they differ
- oil rig
- Specifically a platform with drilling equipment, usually at sea; an oil installation can also be a processing plant on land.
- oil facility
- A broader term for any building or site used by the oil industry, including offices and storage areas.
Word family
- install verb
- To put equipment or a system in place so it can be used.
- installation noun
- The act of putting equipment in place, or a piece of equipment that has been put in place.
Commonly confused: oil installation or oil refinery?
oil installation vs oil refinery
An oil refinery is a factory that turns crude oil into useful products like gasoline, while an oil installation can also mean a drilling or production site.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'oil installation' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Oil installation' means a large industrial site, so it fits the sentence about production at sea. The other options describe small personal actions, which require words like 'oil change' or 'hair oil'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “oil installation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.