Deepwater drilling equipment

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. In particular, the Atlantic Margin to the west of the Shetlands on the UK
Continental Shelf, Norway, West Africa, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico have seen
significant advances in the water depths that wells have been drilled and that fields
have been developed. As a result the number of drilling vessels a nd 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. Thus
75% of all operating areas became a subject of review w.r.t. performance
improvements.
In deepwater operations due to the increased distance required to transport material
and equipment from the drillfloor 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 one therefore that as
Casing
BOP
equipment rig up, pipe
7%
9%
handling/tripping, BOP,
Coring
casing, running etc.
2%
account for more that 55%
of drilling operations.
Logging
These areas should thus
Drilling
9%
be targeted to improve rig
Pipe
26%
Circ/Cement
H'dlg/tripping
efficiencies. In recent years
5%
23%
therefore a new generation
of deepwater drilling units
with increased, dual and automated drilling equipment handling capabilities and
capacity have evolved.
P-Test
2%

Other
3%

Rig Up
14%

Safety
Haz Substance
Hand Tools
Manual
Dropped Object
1%
3%
Handling
Tongs
Pressure
(Mech. Failure)
& Slips
3%
5%
38%
Dropped Load
11%

Manually
Racking Pipe
18%

Trips
21%

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

Figure 2; UK accidents breakdown 97/98

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. Note: 5th generation equipment specification requirements can
be reviewed in appendix 3.
Table 1: Rig size comparision

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 tubulars, 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.
Moonpool 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 personne l 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 BOPs / 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.
Costs savings:

Offline Pickup and

Laydown of Pipe
Offline BHA
handling
Tripping Efficiency
Casing Handling
Extended Drillpipe
Life
Advanced Hoisting
Systems
Marine riser, BOP,
wellhead systems
Sub sea wellhead , xmas tree and completion equipmentSome of the
deepwater drilling equipment innovation that impact the cost drivers are listed in the
following table. These and continued innovations combined with lessons learned
should result in reducing drilling operating costs in deepwater

Tripping adds up.

If we consider table 2; i.e. 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 tubulars. 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.
Table 2: Trip footage for a deepwater well

Operational activity
30 hanger
Drill 26 hole
20 casing
Drill 17 hole
Run 13 3/8 casing
Drill 12 hole
12 bit trip 1
12 bit trip 2
Run 9 5/8 casing
Drill 8 hole
8 bit trip 1
8 bit trip 2
Run 7 liner
Post logging wiper trip
Additional trips wiper/coring

Total trip footage

Trip in
(ft)

Trip out
(ft)

Total trip
(ft)

4,000
4,250

4,250
5,850

8,250
10,100

5,840
5,700
10,000
10,000
12,700
15,300
18,000
18,000
18,700
19,300
20,000
20,000

4,000
10,000
4,000
18,000
12,700
15,300
4,000
20,000
19,300
20,000
17,500
20,000

9,840
15,700
14,000
28,000
25,400
30,600
22,000
38,000
38,000
39,300
37,500
40,000
40,000

396,690ft = 70miles (112km)

Indeed pipe racking systems (PRS) have been demonstrated to trip at a 60-sec slipto-slip time, rarely (since the removal of the spinning chain) can a drilling crew trip
in/out at such a speeds, even in cased hole. Also unlike with a manual drill crew,
Pipe Racking Systems are now more flexible and adaptable in design to handle 6 5/8
drill pipe as easily as 4 -in. drill pipe and can produce consistent motions at speeds
exceeding operational requirements.

Pipe handling
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.
Figure 3: Vertical pipe racking system

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.
Varco, for example with 40
machines now in the field, have
Pipe Racking Systems (PRS)
ranging in capability from handling triple- length drill pipe and bottom hole
assemblies (BHA), to racking quadruple-length stands of casing in sizes up to 20 in.,
to racking double stands of riser. All these systems utilize what has become known
as Foxhole technology with either a conventional X-Y fingerboard or adjustable id
parallel fingers.
Pipe racking system options

An auxiliary opening in the rig floor other than the opening for the rotary table.
permits the makeup or breakout of stands of drill pipe or casing off the critical path of
drilling operations. Such patented process requires the rig to have the ability to hoist
the stand and transport it to the setback area without affecting well-center
operations. E.g. Varcos Foxhole system where doubles of 13 3 / 8-in. casing were made up in
the Foxhole during a rig move and racked vertically in the derrick ready to be run later in the
drilling program. When it came time to run the casing in the hole, only half the
makeup connections were required on the critical path and the casing string was
stationary for less time down hole, increasing the probability of a successful run.
More casing strings.

As the industry continues developing deepwater fields we see more and more
intermediate strings used in casing programs. A drilling rigs ability to make up and
rack back an entire casing string in sta nds of doubles or triples in a fingerboard
capable of racking a range of casing sizes provides significant efficiency gains for
the operator. Rigs capable of racking quadruple length casing stands can potentially
avoid an entire wiper trip by tripping in the hole with 135-ft stands of casing.

Running tubulars
Figure 4: Varco PRS systems

Figure 4
illustrates

Varcos PRS equipment used in the oil and gas

industry to run casing in both doubles and triples.
Casing is made up in the foxhole and racked in the
adjustable fingerboards with the potential of saving
days in the drilling process. In every case, the
running of casing was limited by the block speed,
filling of mud or slow make up of premium thread
connection and not the performance of the Varco
PRS.

18 in Casing 45 joints/hr run in triples

Successfully racked back triples of 18 in casing offline demonstrating a rigs dual

activity capability and the capability of the PRS rackers. 10 stands (triples) in 40
mins, a staggering statistic equalling a rate of 45 joints per hour, or 1890 ft/hour.
Tripping 6 5/8 in Drillpipe 3750 ft/hour

Prior to running the 18 in casing,

tripping out of hole in cased hole
with Range II quads of 6 5/8 in
Drillpipe (125 ft) at a rate of 2 min
per stand equating to a rate of
3750 ft/hour. It was noted that this
time could be improved as the
crew were still learning to operate
the equipment.

However, it is also noted that the

PRS was waiting for the block each stand and was therefore not the critical piece of
machinery in the tripping time process.

Guide line less drilling systems.

This section discusses methods and equipment used in deep open water drilling
operations for re-entering a surface hole or sub sea wellhead with drill bits, casing or
other tools. It provides operating guidelines of the installation of the BOP stack on
the wellhead after open water drilling and casing operations are complete, often
referred to as re-entry operations. The two basic types of drilling vessels that can
be used for re-entry operations in the operational phases are:
dynamically positioned vessels and
vessels that must be moored on the drilling location.
For the re-entry operations, either
guidelines can be established between the sub sea wellhead and the drilling
vessel
or a guideline less drilling sys tem can be used.
This section concentrates on the use of guideline less drilling systems.
Types of open water re-entry systems
When performing re-entry operations, the conventional method is to use guidelines
established between the sub sea wellhead and the drilling vessel which would be
moored and well centre positioned at the required seabed drilling location. 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. Various types of re-entry
operations to be dealt with in a standard exploration well operations will normally be:
1. If a temporary guide base (TGB) or mud mat is used: Stabbing of the 26 - 36 bits and
hole openers through the TGB (for drilling the hole for the conductor).
2. Stabbing the bottom end of the conductor into the top hole section drilled.
3. Stabbing of the bit (depending on the O.D. of the surface casing to be run) into the wellhead
housings (for drilling the hole for the surface casing).
4. Stabbing the surface casing into the low pressure wellhead housing.
5. Installation of the BOP stack connector to the high pressure wellhead housing of the
surface casing (stabbing the BOP wellhead connector over the wellhead).
6. If the BOP stack during the drilling operations has to be retrieved to surface for repair or
other reasons: Re-installation of the BOP stack on the 18 wellhead.
7. If an emergency riser disconnect has to be performed during the drilling operations: Reconnection of the riser to the BOP stack.
8. After the BOP stack has been retrieved during abandonment of the well: Stabbing of
drillstring with cutting tool into the wellhead (one or more times) to cut the surface casing
and conductor below seabed.
9. Stabbing of drillstring with retrieving tool into the wellhead to retrieve the cut-off top part
of the surface casing and conductor.
10. Stabbing open ended drill pipe into the (36) hole at seabed to fill up with cement.

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.
Drilling vessel and guiding systems.
The two types of drilling vessels used are either dynamically positioned vessels or
vessels moored on the deepwater drilling location. For depths ranging from 700m to
1500m, a vessel moored on location would need a chain-wire type mooring system. Here
even with maximum tension on the mooring lines, the mooring in such deep waters
would entail a wide movement amplitude for the vessel. The vessels ability to keep
a position over the sub sea wellhead would be wind and current dependent, and a
mooring line failure during bad weather would be likely to bring the vessel
uncontrollably away from its position over the sub sea wellhead and make it
necessary to perform an emergency riser disconnect from the BOP.
A dynamically positioned drilling vessel eliminate the risks of sudden drift-off during
drilling operations due to mooring line failure and should be able to keep its position
over the sub sea wellhead with a much higher reliability a nd accuracy independent of
weather conditions than a moored vessel could do.
A dynamically positioned drilling vessel is therefore obviously to be preferred for
deep water drilling operations. I.e. drill ship or semi-submersible drilling.
A semi-submersible rig will have better heave, pitch and roll characteristics than a
drill ship and may therefore have less downtime due to bad weather conditions. The
risk of personnel accidents due to heave, pitch and roll motions during the work
would then also be reduced. The final choice of vessel, however, must rest with the
operator and must also be based on evaluation in each specific case of riser
analysis, station keeping ability and equipment reliability.
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.

Finding well after disconnect or for re-entry.

Without guide lines down to the sub sea wellhead in deep water, it is required that
the position of the sub sea wellhead on the seabed is determined as accurately as
possible, i.e. markers are placed adjacent to the wellhead that can be easily located by
ROV is placed on the seabed close to where the well is to be spudded. The dynamically
positioned drilling vessel can then with a minimum of lost time be able to find back to
and reposition over the well if drifting off location when not being connected to the
well. Note: Should the current be strong enough to move the drillstring 10 away from the
vertical at a water depth of 1500m, the horizontal offset of the well at seabed would be
approximately 260m to the rig position at surface. The above note emphasising the
importance of proper wellhead markers being placed around the wellhead.
Determination of well position at seabed
The following basic method is considered best used for determining the position of
the well at seabed:
1. The drilling vessel is positioned at the predetermined well location using the
vessels and/or independent surveying companies satellite positioning equipment.
2. The seabed well position is referenced and marked with a sandbag and three
hole markers using a transponder located on the ROV vehicle tied into the rigs
and/or independent positioning equipment. Note: It is also a good practise at this
time to also place a marker buoy and/or sandbag at pre-determined re-spud and/or relief
well position(s).
3. The 36 hole for the conductor is drilled. With the bit and drillstring in the 36 hole
the following operations may be done.
Accuracy of this method is +/- 1 - 5m.
Finding the well after having drilled the top hole, to run the conductor. At surface the
drilling vessel is repositioned at the position found for the well at seabed. The ROV
will then measure its position co-ordinates relative to the vessel, and the coordinates are monitored at surface by the ROV operator.
The ROV if not immediately spotting the hole in the seabed, will run a grid pattern
scan by ROV camera is made of the seabed until the hole markers are located. With
three marker buoys ythe centre of the well can be located at all times and the
co-ordinates of the hole relative to the vessel position at surface should be in
conjunction with the ROVs transponder be evaluated and determined as required.
When starting to run the 30 conductor, the ROV is taken up to surface in order to
follow the bottom end of the conductor down through the sea as it is run. The
conductor shoes position is located over the hole, and the stabbing of the conductor
into the hole, is visually observed by the ROV camera.

Finding back to the well after having set the 30 conductor:

Note: When running the 30 conductor, the wellhead/guide funnel may also be equipped
with an acoustic or transponder source (reflectors for sonar may also be mounted). At
surface the drilling vessel is repositioned at the position found for the well at seabed.
The ROV, being equipped with transponder, acoustic seeker or a sonar to find the
direction to the 30 wellhead, is launched from the drilling vessel. It will find the
direction to the wellhead and be moved to the wellhead giving its position coordinates back to surface. The continuation of the re-entry operation will now
progress as described in point a) above: The ROV will be taken up, and then follow
the tool to be re-entered.
Installation of marker at spud location
A marker that can easily be found by ROV can be placed on the seabed from the
drilling vessel prior to spudding the well. The well is then spudded close to the
marker. The marker may be one or more ROV buoys, an accoustic source or sonar
reflector. An accoustic or sonar marker will be mounted on a suitable frame prior to
being installed on seabed. (A sonar reflector may also be installed on a ROV buoy).
An acoustic seeker/sonar depending on type of marker must then be used by
the ROV for finding back to the well. For re-entry operations, the ROV can then be
taken up to surface to follow the drillpipe/casing string or BOP down through the sea
as it is run, and then used for observation when performing the re-entry.
If an acoustic marker has been placed on seabed, an alternative method to find back
to the well without the use of ROV is to utilize a dedicated acoustic seeker device
mounted on a frame that can use the drill string/casing string as guide and be run
from surface by a wire. This method can also be used as a back-up for the ROV
with regard to locating the well.

Re-entry equipment.
Remote operated vehicles (ROV)

As already seen from the discussion above, ROV equipment and services will play a
key role in a deep water drilling operation with a guide lineless drilling system. (see
ROV section.))
Guide lineless wellhead equipment.

Sub sea wellhead equipment for guide lineless re-entry operations is manufactured
by Vetco, Cameron Iron Works, Hughes Offshore and Dril-Quip. he principal
difference between guide lineless and standard wellhead/guidebase designs is that
various types of guide funnel arrangement are used to guide tools into the wellbore
or the BOP stack onto the wellhead as opposed to using vertical guide posts and
guide lines.
Vetco developed the first guide lineless wellhead equipment for use with the drillship
SEDCO 445. The primary guidance feature of the Vetco system is a large truncated
conical funnel (called GRA frame and the O.D. of 156) installed around the 30
wellhead of the conductor.
The Cameron guide lineless design employs a smaller diameter funnel (45
diameter) to guide bits or casing into the wellhead and a large inverted funnel
(137"diameter) mounted on the bottom of the BOP stack to guide it onto the
wellhead.
The Hughes guide lineless system uses a single large funnel (112 diameter) to
guide bits or casing into the wellbore and the BOP stack over the wellhead. The
Hughes design is such that standard Hughes guideline-type equipment can be
converted to the g uide lineless configuration.
Dril-quip manufactured for their wellhead system various types of guide funnels to be
installed around the conductor wellhead for guide lineless drilling in accordance with
customer requirements. The general Dril-Quip system is shown in Figure 4 in this
section.
Temporary Guide Base (TGB)

There are different types of TGB that can be used when drilling in deep water.
For guide lineless drilling, however, there is no particular advantage in using a TGB
since there will be no guidelines back to surface. A TGB will take away the
advantage of using the cratering of the 36 hole as a stabbing guide when running
the 30 conductor. If the wellhead is out of vertical when the conductor is landed, a
TGB will also make it difficult/impossible to correct this by holding the wellhead
vertical while the cement sets. (The vertically of the wellhead is checked by a bulls eye
mounted on the wellhead and ROV observation of the bulls eye before and after cementing).
Permanent Guide Base (PGB)

In guide lineless drilling the standard type PGB with guidelines back to surface is not
used. As mentioned earlier, various types of guide funnel assemblies are used
instead.

Wellhead (WH) Systems

Standard WH systems have been used on deepwater drilling in the past. The Vetco
system is the most commonly used for guide lineless systems. All wells deeper
than 1370m have been drilled using Vetco equipment. Cameron equipment has also
been used on several deep water wells. The Cameron system is probably more
suitable for deep water due to the weight set system, but no reported problems on
the Vetco torque set system have been found. The weight set system uses
weight on the running string to energize the main seal that isolate two casings in the
wellhead. The torque set system uses high torque to energize this seal. Only minor
modifications (or none at all) to the internals of the wellheads are necessary for deep
water application. Some modifications may be necessary due to special
requirements, these may include:
- Internal profile in 30 and 18 housings to allow use of cam actuated/
hydraulic running tools. (Threaded running tools are not recommended).
- Modification of landing shoulder for 20 and 30 to 4 degrees. This will give
better support.
- Thickness of extension of 20 can be increased due to high bending stresses
in the 20.
The most commonly used wellhead system earlier has been the 16 x 10 000 psi
system together with an 18 5/8 riser. The 16 WH has a 18 profile on the
outside and this wellhead is landed and locked in the conductor wellhead. The use
of 16 WH is useful to reduce overall weight of BOP and marine riser, but the use
of buoyancy on riser has reduced the need of a very high top-side tensioning. A
disadvantage by using this wellhead system is the need to under ream for the 13
3/8 casing.
Today the most actual wellhead system to be used will probably be a 18 x 10 000
psi or 15 000 psi working pressure WH together with a 21 riser.
Strength of 30 and 20 Wellhead Housings

Due to the long riser with buoyancy required to be used in deep water drilling
operations the wellhead housings can be exposed to high bending moments. To
reduce the stresses in the housings, the wall thickness of the conductor housing
should be at least 1.5.

Guide lineless deepwater drilling operating recommendations

Based on the previous discussion regarding guide lineless deep water drilling
operations, the following recommendations are made:
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 ROV to be used should be a work ROV with 50-75 HP, and which can provide
a bullard pull of 200-300 kg.
- Suitable ROV tools should be acquired for enabling the ROV to grip drillstrings
and conductor/surface casing strings to actively participate in the stabbing of the
strings into the 36 hole/sub sea wellhead.
- The position of the well at seabed must be determined with a fair degree of
accuracy before pulling the drillstring 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 drillpipe 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.
5. Field proven wellhead equipment for guide lineless drilling in deep water is
available from Vetco, Cameron, Hughes Offshore and Dril-Quip. It will be the
operators choice, depending on the specific well requirements, which
wellhead equipment to use.