Deep Water drilling

Group Members:
Amir Hany Marcos

Samuel Adel Thabet

Shams el-Dein Mohamed Ashraf

Content:
Why DW?
DW world profile
DW Challenges
DW Equipment
Safety in DW
Why Deep Water?
Recent increase of crude oil prices at the world market
allows oil companies to develop even marginal and
deep-sea hydrocarbon deposits. Fig. 1 illustrates the
latest deep-water records of offshore production
facilities in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM)
and the Campos Basin in Brazil. Other promising deep-
sea areas are found in the waters off West Africa and
Southeast Asia / Australia.
 Current Global Deepwater Portfolio
Norway
United Kingdom

Morocco
Canada
Mauritania

Trinidad Philippines
Gulf of Mexico
Brunei
Egypt

Malaysia
Nigeria

Tanzania
Brazil Angola
Australia
 DW – Drilling Rigs: History

1970, DPDS
Drilling for oil: 3rd century AD, China Sedco 445

1999 DPDS, Belford Dolphin

1953, Submarex. 1st Drill-ship

1971, DPDS
1861, 1st Modern Pelican
drilling rig

1962, Eureka, 1st Dynamically Positioned DS

2001 DPDS Discoverer Deep seas
1933, Giliasso
1st Mobile unit
 Deepwater Challenges
Exploration
 Seismic imaging
 Limited geologic/analogue
well information
 Lack of reservoir modeling
 Defining base of salt
Drilling
 High drilling costs
 Narrow drilling margin
 Borehole stability
challenges
 Complex well trajectories
 Extreme reservoir depths
 Drilling optimization
 Salt exit strategy
 Unexpected “tar”
formations
Completions & Production
 High completion costs
 Unconsolidated
formations
 Low reservoir porosity and
permeability variances
 Reservoir quality and flow
capability
 Casing size limitations
 Salt creep
 Offsetting production
declines
Exploration Challenge
Areas of Limited Well Control: Gain Reservoir Understanding

Challenge
 Wells are growing in complexity
 Reservoir targets are smaller

Answer
 Geosteering for the Digital Asset
Exploration Challenge
Areas of Limited Well Control: Gain Reservoir Understanding

Geosteering for the Digital Asset

• Build an accurate earth model using
all available data
• Refine earth models and engineer’s
well plan in real time to reduce
uncertainty
• Steer the well to the most productive
zones
Drilling Challenge
Improve Drilling Efficiency: Impact Project Economics
A Success Story
Challenge:
Optimize mud weight and manage ECD in a deepwater subsalt
exploration well.
Solution:
formation pressure tester for real-time formation pressure measurements
Completions Challenge
Lower Completion Costs: Achieve High Production Rates

Customer Challenge:
•Lower completions costs
•Achieve maximum production
•Control sand

Answer:
•Single Trip Multi-Zone (STMZ™)
Completion Systems
Completions Challenge
Lower Completion Costs: Achieve High Production Rates

Single Trip Multi-Zone

System
 Allows treating long production intervals with
higher pump rates

 Good for low permeability reservoirs

 Can divert different proppants to different

zones
In recent years, there have been considerable
advances in the technology required to drill a
deepwater well and this has opened up new
frontiers for exploration and
production.
As a result the number of drilling
vessels and associated equipment
capable of operating in a
deepwater environment has
increased significantly. Prior to the
efficiency gains demonstrated
through new equipment, and
associated work processes, safety
issues were driving rig floor
automation.
complex and expensive…
 Christmas Trees
Christmas Trees as shown are integral
components of sub-sea developments. A
great number of these trees cover a
hydrocarbon deposit allowing
simultaneous production from up to 59
wells. Christmas Trees provide blowout
prevention, pressure and temperature
monitoring as well as data read back from
down hole instrumentation through
control umbilical.
By umbilical's, some of these parameters are
interactively controlled from the central
producing vessel. In addition, electrical
power is transmitted to the sub-sea
installations.
 Tripping adds up.
the typical distance of pipe to
be tripped from a basic
deepwater well program. It
can be seen that tripping
requires transporting and
handling 397,000ft. Manual
handling in certain cases be
proved more efficient but
somewhere between no and
full automation is felt to result
in the most effective, efficient
and loss free performance.
 Vertical pipe racking
Vertical pipe racking is
certainly one of the newest
technologies that have
increased deepwater
capability, safety, and
efficiency in new offshore
rigs built in the last three
years.
They permit operations off the
drilling critical path and
enable expanded operational
efficiency options.
Automated systems such as
vertical pipe racking were not
conceived to merely replace man
with machine or to automate a
manual process. They were also
designed to change the very
processes of tubular handling.
 GEOSTAR
“A new toolset for marine sciences deep sea”
operations
The GEOSTAR system consists of
two main components - the deep-
sea intervention tool named
MODUS and the innovative deep-
sea observatory. This benthic
station is capable to perform
autonomous, long-term
geophysical, geochemical and
oceanographic observations in
abyssal depths. The acquired data
are transmitted via by acoustic
telemetry.
 GEOSTAR
. “A new toolset for marine sciences deep sea”
operations
the MODUS ROV is a very cost
effective tool.
In addition, two persons are
required to check functionality of
the sensors and to start operation
of the benthic laboratory.
For reliability and cost reduction
reasons, the GEOSTAR system
uses deep sea proved ‘out of the
shelf’ components like thrusters,
sonar, altimeter , underwater
lights and cameras or acoustic
releases
 “Deep Water Solution”
Artificial Seabed .
(introduced by Atlantis)
 Sub sea Blowout preventer
A blowout preventer (BOP) is a large valve that can
seal off at the surface wellhead a well being drilled or
worked over.

Types:

1-Ram Bop

Piperam : have smicircular openings that match the

diameters of pipe sizes for which they are designed

Blind ram: designed to close when no pipe is in the hole

Shear ram: used to shear the drillstring and

prevent flow From the well
2-Annular Bop or “Bag type preventor ” :

Used to stop flow by using apacking element

“synthetic rubber ”Around any size of drill
pipe .

3-Rotary Bop:

Seal around the kelly at the top of the Bop

stack.
Applications:
-When air or gas used as drilling fluid.
-Underbalance drilling.
Landing sub sea Bop:
Why Bop is important?
 TO
AVOID
THIS...
Transport off shore rigs:
 Safety in Deepwater
drilling

In deepwater operations due to the increased distance required to

transport material and equipment from the drill floor to the seabed
and with increased day rate costs of larger “fit for purpose” drilling
units required. Rig efficiency is a prime candidate to improve upon
in order to reduce operating times and drilling costs.
Figure 1: Man hours breakdown,
deepwater GOM.
It can be concluded from figure 1 therefore that as equipment rig up,
pipe handling/tripping, BOP, casing, running etc. account for more
that 55% of drilling operations.
These areas should thus be targeted to improve rig efficiencies. In
recent years therefore a new generation of deepwater drilling units
with increased, dual and automated drilling equipment handling
capabilities and capacity have evolved.
Figure 2; UK accidents breakdown 97/98
Furthermore from the pie chart in figure 2, >56% of all safety related incidents occur with manual
handling equipment. Added
incentives to more reliable, efficient and effective handling systems, could if designed with operational
ease of use in mind lend towards being key drivers to delivering safety statistics to a more desirable level.
Deepwater equipment standards required.
The following rig equipment requirements for a semi-submersible, conventional
drillship and a new generations deepwater drillship, serve to illustrate the required
specifications that are required for deep open water environments compared to
conventional operations
* Equipment should be fit for purpose, operationally functional, simple to
operate, with critical spares requirements fully assessed.

* Adequate deck load and deck space should be available to store complete
riser together with drilling tubular, bulk, casing etc.

* Tensioner capacity must be adequate to capably handle the maximum

water depth at a predetermined maximum mud weight.

* Adequate power must be available to continue drilling while

maintaining position in rough weather.

*Station keeping ability is required that must have considered the rigs
stability characteristics and anticipated operating environments.

* 10 or 12 point anchoring system are preferred, with high holding power

anchors to suit softer seabed condition.

* Moon pool facilities to efficiently deploy and launch ROV and related
sub sea equipment.
* A planned Maintenance system to afford quality assurance of all equipment.

* High pressure 7500psi circulating pipe work, 3 or 4 1600-2200HHP triplex

mud pumps to be able to clean the wellbore and the marine riser as required.

* Large variable deck load, deck space, with good transportation capabilities are
to carry and transport all drilling tools and equipment in all work
environments.

* Adequate mud pit and reserve capacity > 5000 bbls recommended.

* Efficient BOP and riser handling system

* 20 - 25 ft compensator preferably, Crown mounted and/or Active system

* Adequate skidding areas and space for simultaneously handling sub sea trees,
sub sea equipment, in addition to normal drilling requirements

* Satellite rig positioning capabilities ( To be used in spud / hole location )

* A competent and experienced drilling team

Personnel
Experienced personnel are essential to ensuring and maintaining satisfactory
performance especially so, when performing non standard operations typified
during deepwater drilling operations.

Personnel requirements
Use specialists with local area knowledge and experience when considering;
· Continuity and means to ensure the industry experts are available when
required.
Proper scheduling, affording standby rates are means to ensure this.
· Provide adequate training and development for essential personnel, i.e. rig site
training, pre-spud meetings
· Provide a well documented drilling “lessons learned” dossier
· Update dossier as lessons are learned to ensure organisational learning exists
· Provide two sub sea engineers for running/pulling BOP’s / risers, sub sea
equipment
· Provide two mud engineers when drilling top surface and intermediate
sections.
· Provide additional crane drivers, roughnecks and roustabouts during key
operations to ensure operational efficiency can be maintained, safely and
effectively.
 Tripping adds up.
Table 2: Trip footage for a deepwater well
the typical distance of pipe to be tripped from a basic deepwater well program. It can be seen
that tripping requires transporting and handling 397,000ft i.e 70 miles! of drilling tubular’s.
Manual handling in certain cases be proved more efficient but somewhere between no and
full automation is felt to result in the most effective, efficient and loss free performance.
Guide line less drilling systems.

In deep water drilling operations, the use of dynamically positioned drilling vessels and guide
lineless drilling systems offer distinct advantages, e.g. reduced operating sequence, equipment requirements,
time and efficiency cost savings.
When using a guide lineless system, the bit is set on the bottom without guidance and the hole for the conductor is drilled.

When running the conductor, observation by ROV camera is used when stabbing the conductor into the hole.

The wellhead on the conductor will not have a PGB installed around it., but is equipped with a specially designed guide funnel (with bulls eyes attached) to
be used both when guiding bits into the wellhead and when installing the BOP stack after having run surface string and high pressure wellhead housing.
The drilling system however to be used by a dynamically
positioned drilling vessel in deepwater should be a
guideline less system. This eliminates the safety risk of
guidelines breaking and becoming entangled in the BOP
stack during critical situations
e.g. an emergency riser disconnect from the BOP in bad
weather situations where a sudden drift-off was imminent
or happened.

Two factors exist for the safe and operationally successful

use of the guideline less system in deep water drilling;

1. accurate determination of the well position at seabed

2. utilization of ROV equipment and services.
Guide lineless deepwater drilling operating recommendations
1. The drilling vessel should be dynamically positioned semi-submersible rig or a
drillship.

2. A semi-submersible rig will have better motion characteristics that may be the preferred alternative. The final
choice of vessel, would rest with the operator and be based on evaluation in each specific case of riser analysis,
station keeping ability and equipment reliability.

3. A guide lineless drilling system should be used

- For the successful use of the guide lineless drilling system, an ROV able to operate at the maximum required depth
is recommended.

- The position of the well at seabed must be determined with a fair degree of accuracy before pulling the drill string
out of the 36” hole or wellhead. The marker may be one or more ROV buoys, an acoustic source or a sonar reflector.
If an acoustic/sonar marker is used, a seeker device must be available to be used by the ROV to find the marker.

- A permanent acoustic source should be mounted on the (conductor) wellhead. Additionally a sonar reflector
may also be mounted on the wellhead if the ROV is equipped with a sonar. After the conductor has been set, the
ROV can then locate the wellhead directly, and the markers placed on seabed prior to spud may be retrieved.

- An alternative method to find back to the well without using ROV can be to use an acoustic seeker device that is
sent down along the drill pipe to locate the wellhead. If an acoustic source is placed on seabed at spud location
prior to spudding the well, this seeker device can also be used to locate the 36” hole (prior to running the
conductor).

4. The use of a temporary guide base (TGB) in guide lineless deep water drilling operations is not recommended.