It was 1986 and oil prices crashed. Rig 9 took an early retirement at only 3 years old. Built in 1983 for drilling 6000 to 8000’ wells, the demand for rotary drilling literally dried up in 1986. Twenty years later in 2006, oil prices began to increase and deeper wells were back in demand. Rig 9 was brought out of a long, temporary retirement in the summer of 2006 and continues to drill today.