Offshore blue-card rig with around a dozen scientists, a 15-minute hackable crate, and a heavy-scientist Chinook response when you hack it.
Mid-game puzzle monuments. Most need a green card → blue card progression and one fuse. Loot tier rises sharply (military crates, elite crates, components, scrap) — the meat of the monument economy.
| Keycards | 1× Blue |
|---|---|
| Fuses required | 0 |
| Scientists / NPCs | ~12, plus heavy scientists dropped by Chinook on the crate hack |
| Radiation | None |
| Recycler | Yes (×1) |
| Workbench | None |
Small Oil Rig is the offshore blue-card monument — a compact rig out at sea guarded by around a dozen scientists. Swipe a blue keycard to reach the hackable crate, start the 15-minute hack, then hold the rig while heavy scientists drop in by Chinook. It's one of the best mid-game loot runs once you can field a blue card and a boat.
The headline reward is the Hackable Locked Crate — the same elite pool as CH47 and Cargo Ship drops (top-tier weapons, components, ammo). On top of that you get several military crates, a couple of elite crates, and scientist drops — a clean run is roughly 300+ scrap plus weapons.
Bonus: Small Oil Rig has an on-site recycler, so you can turn components into scrap before you leave instead of hauling everything home.
Just a single blue keycard — no red card required. The blue swipe opens the military-crate room and the hackable Locked Crate.
Around a dozen scientists patrol the platforms, and hacking the Locked Crate drops in additional heavy scientists by Chinook. Exact counts can shift slightly by patch.
Yes — there's a recycler on the rig, so you can recycle components into scrap before you boat out.
15 minutes from the moment you start it. When you begin the hack, a Chinook drops heavy scientists onto the rig, so defend the position until the timer hits 0:00.
Yes — it's the more solo-friendly of the two rigs. About a dozen scientists plus the heavy-scientist response is doable solo with a decent rifle, armour and meds; a duo makes the hack much safer.
Small Oil Rig is the lighter of the two offshore rigs: fewer scientists, a single blue-card puzzle, and an on-site recycler. Large Oil Rig is the bigger, more contested version with 23 scientists, ten heavy scientists on the hack, and no recycler. If you're learning Oil Rig, start Small.
Both rigs share the same loop — boat out, clear scientists, swipe blue, hack the crate, survive the Chinook — and the same elite loot pool. The trade is risk versus reward. For the boat you'll need, see the Rust boat guide; for what the crate can roll, the loot tables.