PETE 355

Offshore Drilling
Offshore Drilling Installations
Moveable rigs

Fixed
platform
 Mobile Offshore Drilling Units
(MODU)
• MODU – offshore facilities designed to engage drilling
and exploration activities
• Includes drill ships, semisubmersibles, submersibles,
jack-ups
• May or may not have self-propulsion equipment on board
• May require dynamic positioning equipment or mooring
systems to maintain their position
Floating drilling rigs generation
Generation Water Depth Dates
(ft)

First About 600 1960s

Second About 1000 1969-1974

Third About 1500 Early 1980s

Fourth About 3000 1990s

Fifth About 7500 1998-2004

Sixth About 10000 2005-today

Dual activity drill ship
• Water depth
capabilities: 12,000 ft.
• Drilling depth
capacity: 40,000 ft.
• 2.5 Mlbs Derrick
• 18 ¾” 15k BOP
• Four mud pumps
rated to 7,500 psi
• Oil storage capacity
for testing operation/
brine storage
(125,000 bbl)
Rig Movement
Motion Compensation

• Drill string compensator

• Riser tensioner
• Slip joint (telescopic Joint)
• Flex joint (ball joint)
Drill string compensator
P1V1  P2 (V1  V )
V is small  P2  P1

F
F = P x Apiston ~ constant
Riser tensioner
Telescopic joint and riser
tensioner ring
Telescopic
joint inner
barrel

Tensioner
ring

Telescopic
joint outer
barrel
Surface to mudline equipment
UPPER
JOINT 4 JOINTS OF
4850’ OF BOUYANT BARE RISER
RISER USED

BOUYANT BARE
RISER JOINT RISER JOINT

TELESCOPIC
JOINT

TENSIONERS TENSIONERS
BARE
RISER JOINT

BOUYANT
MARINE RISER JOINT
RISER LOWER
SPACER FLEX
JOINT JOINT

LMRP
TERMINATION
JOINT

BOUYANT
2 JOINTS OF RISER JOINT
BARE RISER BOP

WELL HEAD

MUDLINE

CONDUCTOR
Riser Joint
Riser connection
Buoyant Riser Joint
Telescopic Joint (Slip Joint)
 Subsea FlexJoint

• Operates in water
depth up to 12,000 ft
• Angular deflections of
± 10 degrees
• Axial tensions up to
3,5 million pounds
Subsea BOP
Typical subsea BOP configuration

Cut pipe & seal

Cut only, no sealing
 Subsea Wellhead
High-pressure housing
• interface between the subsea BOP stack
and the subsea well.
• Male member to a large-bore connection
or (the female counterpart is the wellhead
Para
connector on the bottom of the BOP
te centralizar o
stack)
D • Will house and support each casing
Suspensor
string by way of a mandrel-type casing
e hanger.
dentro do
• Metal-to-metal sealing surface for the
ão
Alojador de
seal assembly
• The wellhead will typically accommodate
Alta Pressão
two or three casing hangers and a tubing
hanger
Subsea Connectors
Hydraulically operated, metal-
to-metal sealing

Used to connect:
• BOP stack to wellhead
• LMRP to BOP stack
Riser analysis
MARINE DRILLING RISER ANALYSIS PRODUCES LOADS
TENSION
FROM
RISER

Working Stress Design

SHEAR FORCE
FROM VESSEL OFFSET
AND RISER TENSION • Calculate axial load and
axial stress
• Calculate bending load
and bending stress
• Calculate shear loads
and shear stresses
BENDING MOMENT
• Use VME to combine
FROM VESSEL OFFSET,
RISER TENSION AND BOP stresses
STACK HEIGHT
• VME Stress < 2/3 yield
MUDLINE
point

CONDUCTOR
MAXIMUM STRESS IN
CONDUCTOR OCCURS
BELOW THE MUDLINE
Typical offshore well drilling sequence
• Drill 36” hole with seawater returning to
mudline
• Run & cement 30” conductor with low-
pressure housing
• Drill 26” hole with seawater returning to
mudline
• Run & cement 20” surface casing with
high-pressure housing
• Run riser & BOP
 MLW = 5600’

DRILL PIPE
CONDUCTOR

DRILL PIPE

CONDUCTOR

DRILL PIPE

CONDUCTOR

CONDUCTOR

OPEN HOLE MUDLINE

 MLW = 5600’

DRILL PIPE
SURFACE CASING

SURFACE CASING

DRILL PIPE

SURFACE CASING

SURFACE CASING

CONDUCTOR CONDUCTOR CONDUCTOR CONDUCTOR

MUDLINE
 MLW = 5600’

LMRP / BOP

LMRP / BOP

LMRP / BOP

LMRP / BOP

WELLHEAD
SURFACE CASING
CONDUCTOR
MUDLINE
Emergency Disconnection
Shearing pipe in an emergency
Riser disconnected
 Dual Activity Rig
Two drilling systems in a single rig

Sai10 k Sai10 k Sai10 k Sai10 k

- Drill 8½” pilot hole - Pull out 8½” bit - Run BOP - Run BOP
- Run 36” csg jet assy - Jet 36” csg - Drill 26” hole - Run 20” csg
 Deepwater challenges

Wind
Waves
Surface challenges

Currents

“Water” challenges
Currents

Subsurface challenges
 Surface challenges
• Wind & waves - “The
weather”
• Logistics – distance &
volumes
• Rig – the right “tool” for the
job
• Environmental challenges
 DST testing
 Cuttings
 “Water” challenges
• Water depth up to 10,000 ft (long riser)
• Low seabed temperature
 Hydrates (BOP, C&K lines)
 Gelled/frozen mud at C&K lines
• Eddy or loop currents
• BOP related problems (GoM experience
10-20% NPT due to BOP)
• Load on wellhead
• Deepwater site survey
• Well control procedures
 frictional losses at C&K lines
 gas break out above BOP (with OBM)
 Subsurface challenges
• Well control
• Shallow hazards: gas, hydrates, water flow
• Unconsolidated & soft formations
• Pore pressure/Fracture gradient uncertainty
• Narrow pressure margins (operational window)
• Salt formations and rubble zones (salt creep, lost
circulation)
• Multiple casing strings – tight clearance => running
speed, cementing
Offshore Well Example – Normal clearance
seafloor
conductor

surface
intermediate
production
production
liner

7” liner
Deepwater Well Example – Tight clearance
seafloor

7.75” liner
GoM Technical Drilling Challenges
Storms and hurricanes
Loop and eddy currents (vortex-induced
vibration – VIV)

Unpredictable high pressure gas, charged

stringers and faults near surface

Mobile/dissolvable 10,000’ thick salt layer

with highly variable trapped sediments

Unpredictable base of salt – rapid

pressure differentials

Low pressure “Thief zones” (lost circulation)

Ultra-deep reservoir with high temperatures,

high pressures and low natural permeability
 Deepwater Technical Drilling
Challenges
• Deepwater is a complex, risky, and costly
environment.
• Many technical challenges remain to be
solved.
• Solutions need creativity and collaboration.
• Capable People
• World Class Safety Performance
• Innovative Technology
• Strong Partnerships
Last Slide