Drilling Facility Design - "A Wells Up Approach"

Drilling Facility Design - "A Wells Up Approach" John Nichols; John Nichols KCA DEUTAG Drilling Limited Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Kenny Lawrie; Kenny Lawrie KCA DEUTAG Drilling Limited Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paul Jenkins; Paul Jenkins KCA DEUTAG Drilling Limited Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar John McGill John McGill National Oilwell Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Offshore Europe Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, September 2003. Paper Number: SPE-83951-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/83951-MS Published: September 02 2003 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Nichols, John, Lawrie, Kenny, Jenkins, Paul, and John McGill. "Drilling Facility Design - "A Wells Up Approach"." Paper presented at the SPE Offshore Europe Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, September 2003. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/83951-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Offshore Europe Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractThere are a number of developments where new dry tree platform drilling rigs are specified. In some cases the geographical location, number of wells to be drilled and the ongoing life of field intervention requirements lead to the need for a permanent rig installation.The majority of permanent offshore rig installations has in the main been confined to the N. Sea region. As a result there is a significant experience base related to how the rig interfaces with the production platform and the lessons learned from operations that can be used to ensure appropriate drilling facilities are designed.Compared to the overall project or field development cost the initial capital cost of the rig is usually a relatively small proportion of the project. However, when the operational cost of drilling and maintaining the wells is included it can account for between 30 - 40% of the overall development costs. Therefore the actual operational efficiency of the rig will have a significant impact on the overall project economics.During the initial stages of a project it is essential that the project requirements such as the regulatory requirements, well designs, platform interfaces and philosophies and the appropriate levels of mechanisation are understood. This allows a clear definition of the rig equipment selection and functionality to ensure the rig is not over or under rated in order to allow the drilling team to provide a rig that delivers the expected operational efficiency.IntroductionFor large EPC Projects where permanent drilling facilities are deemed the best solution it provides the operator a tremendous opportunity to get the ideal rig for the job. By extracting the full value of this opportunity the operator will be able to realize HSE and operational efficiencies and hence reduced wells costs.Production platform drilling rigs have different economic drivers compared to MODU's and can be designed for the specific well requirements. After the initial drilling campaign the rig may move to intermittent workover and sidetrack operations. The drilling equipment and utilities can be selected and designed to suit the programme.However, typically this opportunity has not been fully realized as in the past the approach to rig sizing has often been superficial and rigs tend to be incorrectly rated for the intended duty. The well requirements and maximum depth capability are seldom clearly defined as a result equipment tends to be over specified.There can be a tendency to develop rig specifications without operations and specialist input and base them on what was seen on previous rig designs. In some cases these may be based on arrangements that are not applicable to the planned platform operations, e.g. the newer deepwater drillships, which have numerous capabilities such as dual activity systems. If applied to a platform rig with the constraints of weight and deck space these systems may cause more problems than they solve.This often leads to drilling being the least defined of all the facilities of a production platform going into detail design, greatly increasing the risk of cost and schedule overruns to the project as well as the early performance of the rig.Yet the overall drilling costs including engineering, design, construction and drilling operations may well account for 40% of the total project cost.Similar inconsistencies appear across projects. Generally there is a reluctance or failure to recognize the value of placing operational drilling staff and specialist rig designers on the project teams during the early concept definition phase. This is evident by the disproportionate numbers of topsides engineering personnel to rig design personnel in the early stages of design. Keywords: specification, rig, drilling contractor, information, contractor, equipment supplier, well design, vendor, design team, personnel Subjects: Drilling Operations, Drilling Equipment This content is only available via PDF. 2003. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.

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