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Total Selects AGR’s RMR for Exploration Offshore Australia
TOTAL E&P Australia (Total) has signed up to use AGR’s Riserless Mud Recovery (RMR®) system. The contract is for two exploration wells to be drilled over the next year in the Browse Basin off North West Australia.
Bernt Eikemo, AGR’s Vice President of the Enhanced Drilling Solutions (EDS) division (Asia Pacific), said: “AGR is delighted to be part of Total’s drilling team during the forthcoming exploration campaign. We hope that this is the start of a long, successful relationship with Total E&P Australia.”
He added: “Our previous experiences with several operators in the Browse Basin and the North West Shelf have shown that unconsolidated sand formations become much more benign when drilled with RMR® using a proper mud system.”
RMR® has been used by Total on several other projects internationally but this is the first time that the operator has used the system in Australia.
The main reason for using RMR® on these wells is to be able to drill through the unconsolidated sands of the Grebe Formation. It is renowned for stuck-pipe problems when drilling riserless using seawater and sweeps.
RMR® (system example attached) enables the use of weighted, engineered mud in the top-hole section. All mud and cuttings are returned to the rig with no discharge to the seabed. The top-hole section can be drilled more safely, quickly and with less impact on the environment.
RMR®, together with its sister technology the Cutting Transportation System (CTS™), has been deployed on more than 500 wells worldwide to date.
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UK: Talisman Selects Helix Well Ops for Subsea Works on Its Assets
Subsea well intervention specialist Helix Well Ops UK (Well Ops), has been awarded a multi-service contract by Talisman Energy (UK) Limited.
The contract will see the Aberdeen-based firm carry out a number of subsea workscopes that include well maintenance and production enhancement operations, and a number of well abandonments at various fields within Talisman’s portfolio of assets. The multi-service campaign is anticipated to last upwards of two months and will be undertaken from Well Ops’ mono-hull saturation diving and well intervention vessel MSV Seawell.
Launched in 1987, MSV Seawell was one of the pioneers of the light well intervention market in the North Sea and will soon be entering its 25th year of service across the UKCS, NCS and Danish sectors of the North Sea. During this period the vessel has performed well intervention work on more than 650 wells, as well as decommissioning over 150 live and suspended wells and 15 subsea fields.
The 114-metre (374ft) DP2 vessel features a purpose-built derrick for well intervention above a 7m x 5m moon-pool and a travelling block rated to 80-tonne lift capacity. MSV Seawell has a saturation diving capability of up to an 18-man team, and these services are supported by work-class and observation-class ROVs.
Steve Nairn, Well Ops’ regional vice president of Europe and Africa, said: “Well Ops has successfully carried out a number of well intervention projects for Talisman in recent years and we are very pleased to be continuing our long-standing relationship with the award of this two-month, multi-service project.”
The abandonment of wells is anticipated to make up a significant proportion of the estimated £30billion expenditure that will be spent decommissioning the UK’s oil and gas infrastructure. Industry body Oil & Gas UK has said that between 2012 and 2020, it is estimated that £1.6billion will be spent decommissioning wells.
Mr Nairn added: “Although well abandonment and decommissioning is being discussed more widely, there is still uncertainty as to the speed that such projects will come on stream. At the same time, due to the investments which are being made in the North Sea establishing new fields and rejuvenating existing ones, there will continue to be a demand for our broad range of well intervention, diving and light construction services.”
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USA: Chevron Selects McDermott for Jack and St. Malo Fabrication and Installation Work
McDermott International, Inc. , announced today that one of its subsidiary companies was awarded fabrication and installation work from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. to support the development of the Jack and St. Malo fields in the Gulf of Mexico. The project will be included in McDermott’s first quarter 2011 bookings.
Work will begin in 2013, with the start of fabrication of 21 rigid jumpers at McDermott’s Morgan City fabrication facility in Louisiana. Offshore installation will begin in early 2014 using McDermott’s subsea construction vessel North Ocean 102 (“NO102”) and the DB16.
“We are pleased to be able to support Chevron’s deepwater developments in the Gulf of Mexico and believe that our combined solution of NO102’s high payload and top tension capacity coupled with our ability to fabricate the high spec jumpers in house provides a unique benefit for this project’s delivery,” said Stephen M. Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer of McDermott.
The NO102 and its crew will transport and install more than 60 miles of umbilicals, including three control and two power umbilicals. The jumpers and remaining subsea controls system components, including more than 80 flying leads, will be installed by the DB16.
Located in up to 7,150 feet of water in the US Gulf of Mexico Walker Ridge lease blocks, the Jack South and St. Malo North and South subsea drill centers tie back to the Jack and St. Malo floating production platform.
More about North Ocean 102
The 427-foot NO102 enables McDermott to offer versatile installation capabilities in the flexible pipe and product market worldwide. The vessel has two cranes and a moon pool to support deepwater subsea construction work and has a fast transit speed. It is currently equipped with a 7,000-ton capacity cable and umbilical and flexible pipe carousel with horizontal lay system. Plans are underway to upgrade the vessel’s capability by installing a high-capacity flexible-lay system for ultra deepwater installation work. The upgrade will include installation of a new 250-ton crane.
North Ocean 105 (NO105), the sister ship to NO102, is currently under construction at a Spanish shipyard. The 427-foot vessel will be outfitted with a high capacity rigid-reeled pipe-lay system with top-tier payload capacity. The system will also accommodate installation of flexible products including submarine cables and umbilicals and flexible pipelines. The anticipated delivery date of the NO105 is 2012.
ABOUT McDERMOTT
McDermott is a leading engineering, procurement, construction and installation (“EPCI”) company focused on executing complex offshore oil and gas projects worldwide. Providing fully integrated EPCI services for upstream field developments, the Company delivers fixed and floating production facilities, pipelines and subsea systems from concept to commissioning. McDermott’s customers include national and major energy companies. Operating in more than 20 countries across the Atlantic, Middle East and Asia Pacific, the Company’s integrated resources include more than 15,000 employees and a diversified fleet of marine vessels, fabrication facilities and engineering offices. McDermott has served the energy industry since 1923.
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