Definition of deep water drilling

Types of deep water drilling rigs

Deep water History
Difference between shallow and deep water drilling
Rig selection
Drilling Equipment Specific to Deepwater Drilling
Deep water well control
Deep water drilling damages assessment
Alternatives for deep water drilling damages




















As the price of oil goes up, it becomes worth the cost for resource companies to spend billions of dollars exploring
and drilling in deeper and deeper water.
And the huge financial cost is only the start of a host of differences between drilling in relatively shallow water and
exploring the deeper water with seabeds more than 500 metres below the surface.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_drilling
Deepwater drilling,
[1]
or Deep well drilling,
[2]
is the process of oil and gas exploration. There are
approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150
meters.
[3]
The sheer size and depth of these rigs are cause for concern if one were to break. This
presents significant difficulties for well repair.
[4]

It has not been technologically and economically feasible for many years, but with rising oil prices,
more companies are investing in this area.
[5]
Major companies working in this sector
include Halliburton,Diamond Offshore, TransOcean, Geoservices, and Schlumberger. The
deepwater gas and oil market is back on the rise after the disaster of 2010, and total expenditure of
around $35 billion per year and a total global Capex of $167 billion in the past four years.
[6]

Recent industry analysis by Visiongain has estimated that the total expenditure in the global
deepwater infrastructure market would reach $145bn in 2011.
[7]

Not all oil is accessible on land or in shallow water. You can find some oil deposits buried
deep under the ocean floor. ...Using sonic equipment, oil companies determine the drilling
sites most likely to produce oil. Then they use a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) to dig
the initial well. Some units are converted into production rigs, meaning they switch from
drilling for oil to capturing oil once it's found. Most of the time, the oil company will replace
the MODU with a more permanent oil production rig to capture oil. ...The MODU's job is to
drill down into the ocean's floor to find oil deposits. The part of the drill that extends below
the deck and through the water is called the riser. The riser allows for drilling fluids to move
between the floor and the rig. Engineers lower a drill string a series of pipes designed to
drill down to the oil deposit through the riser.
[8]

The expansion of deepwater drilling is happening despite accidents in offshore fields...
[9]

In the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, a large explosion occurred killing workers
and spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico while a BP oil rig was drilling in deep waters.
...Despite the risks, the deepwater drilling trend is spreading in the Mediterranean and off
the coast of East Africa after a string of huge discoveries of natural gas.
[9]

The reason for the resumption of such drilling, analysts say, is continuing high demand for
energy worldwide.
[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_drilling

Offshore drilling history
Around 1891, the first submerged oil wells were drilled from platforms built on piles in the fresh
waters of the Grand Lake St. Marys (a.k.a. Mercer County Reservoir) in Ohio. The wells were
developed by small local companies such as Bryson, Riley Oil, German-American and Banker's Oil.
Around 1896, the first submerged oil wells in salt water were drilled in the portion of the Summerland
field extending under the Santa Barbara Channel in California. The wells were drilled from piers
extending from land out into the channel.
[1][2]

Other notable early submerged drilling activities occurred on the Canadian side of Lake Erie in the
1900s and Caddo Lake in Louisiana in the 1910s. Shortly thereafter wells were drilled in tidal zones
along the Texas and Louisiana gulf coast. The Goose Creek Oil Field near Baytown, Texas is one
such example. In the 1920s drilling activities occurred from concrete platforms in Venezuela's Lake
Maracaibo.
One of the oldest subsea wells is the Bibi Eibat well, which came on stream in 1923
in Azerbaijan.
[3][dubious discuss]
The well was located on an artificial island in a shallow portion of
the Caspian Sea. In the early 1930s, the Texas Co., later Texaco (now Chevron) developed the first
mobile steel barges for drilling in the brackish coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1937, Pure Oil (now Chevron) and its partner Superior Oil (now ExxonMobil) used a fixed platform
to develop a field 1 mile (1.6 km) offshore of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana in 14 feet (4.3 m) of water.
In 1946, Magnolia Petroleum (now ExxonMobil) drilled at a site 18 miles (29 km) off the coast,
erecting a platform in 18 feet (5.5 m) of water off St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.
In early 1947, Superior Oil erected a drilling and production platform in 20 feet (6.1 m) of water some
18 miles (29 km) off Vermilion Parish, La. But it was Kerr-McGee Oil Industries (now Anadarko
Petroleum), as operator for partners Phillips Petroleum (ConocoPhillips) and Stanolind Oil & Gas
(BP) that completed its historic Ship Shoal Block 32 well in October 1947, months before Superior
actually drilled a discovery from their Vermilion platform farther offshore. In any case, that made
Kerr-McGee's well the first oil discovery drilled out of sight of land.
[4]

When offshore drilling moved into deeper waters of up to 30 metres (98 ft), fixed platform rigs were
built, until demands for drilling equipment was needed in the 100 feet (30 m) to 120 metres (390 ft)
depth of the Gulf of Mexico, the first jack-up rigs began appearing from specialized offshore drilling
contractors such as forerunners of ENSCO International.
The first semi-submersible resulted from an unexpected observation in 1961. Blue Water Drilling
Company owned and operated the four-column submersible Blue Water Rig No.1 in the Gulf of
Mexico for Shell Oil Company. As the pontoons were not sufficiently buoyant to support the weight of
the rig and its consumables, it was towed between locations at a draught mid-way between the top
of the pontoons and the underside of the deck. It was noticed that the motions at this draught were
very small, and Blue Water Drilling and Shell jointly decided to try operating the rig in the floating
mode. The concept of an anchored, stable floating deep-sea platform had been designed and tested
back in the 1920s byEdward Robert Armstrong for the purpose of operating aircraft with an invention
known as the 'seadrome'. The first purpose-built drilling semi-submersible Ocean Driller was
launched in 1963. Since then, many semi-submersibles have been purpose-designed for the drilling
industry mobile offshore fleet.
The first offshore drillship was the CUSS 1 developed for the Mohole project to drill into the Earth's
crust.
As of June, 2010, there were over 620 mobile offshore drilling rigs (Jackups, semisubs, drillships,
barges) available for service in the competitive rig fleet.
[5]

One of the world's deepest hubs is currently the Perdido in the Gulf of Mexico, floating in 2,438
meters of water. It is operated by Royal Dutch Shell and was built at a cost of $3 billion.
[6]
The
deepest operational platform is the Petrobras America Cascade FPSO in the Walker Ridge 249 field
in 2,600 meters of water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_drilling
Types of Deepwater Drilling Rigs[edit]
There are basically two kinds of mobile deepwater drilling rigs: semi-submersible drilling rigs
and drillships. Drilling can also be performed from a fixed-position installation such as a floating spar
platform (or tension-leg platform).
1. Fixed Platform- Fixed Platforms consist of a tall, steel structure that supports a floating deck.
Because the Fixed Platform is anchored to the sea floor, it is very costly to build. Its
maximum depth it can drill to is 500 meters (1,600 feet) below the surface.
2. Jack-Up Rigs- Jack-up rigs are mobile platforms that are used for more shallow or non-
permanent oil deposits. This platform can be moved around, and the legs are then lowered
to the sea floor and lock into place. The legs rise above the water, meaning the platform is
raised up out of the water. That makes this type of rig safer to work on, because weather
and waves are not an issue.
3. Compliant-Tower Rig- The compliant-tower rig is very similar to the fixed platform. Both are
anchored to the sea floor and both work places are above the surface. However, the
compliant tower is taller and narrower, and can operate up to 1 kilometer (3,000 feet) below
the surface.
4. Floating Production System- the Floating Production System is the most common rig used in
the Gulf of Mexico. This rig is buoyant, meaning the bulk of it is floating above the surface.
However, the wellhead is located on the sea floor, so extra precautions must be made to
prevent a leak. A fail in the leak-preventing system is what caused the oil spill disaster of
2010. These rigs can operate anywhere from 200 to 2,000 meters (660 to 6,560 feet) below
the surface.
5. Tension-Leg Platform- The Tension-leg Platform consists of a floating structure, held in place
by tendons that run down to the sea floor. These rigs drill smaller deposits in narrower
areas, meaning this is a low-cost way to get a little oil, which attracts many companies.
These rigs can drill anywhere from 200 to 1,200 meters (660 to 3,940 feet) below the
surface.
6. Subsea Systems- Subsea Systems are actually wellheads, which sit on the sea floor and
extract oil straight from the ground. They use pipes to force the oil back up to the surface,
and can siphon oi; to nearby platform rigs, a ship overhead, a local production hub, or even
a faraway onshore site. This makes the Subsea system very versatile and a popular choice
for companies.
7. Spar Platform- Spar Platforms use a large cylinder to support the floating deck from the sea
floor. On average, about 90% of the Spar Platform's structure is underwater. Most Spar
Platforms are used up to depths of 1 kilometer (3,000 feet), but new technology can extend
them to function up to 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) below the surface. That makes it one of
the deepest drilling rigs in use today.
[10]

2010 Gulf Oil Spill Disaster[edit]
In April 2010, a BP deepwater oil rig exploded, killing 11 and releasing 750 000 cubic meters (200
million gallons) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. With those numbers, many scientists consider this
disaster to be one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the US.
[11]

A large number of animal deaths have resulted from the release of the oil. A Center study estimates
that over 82,000 birds; about 6,000 sea turtles; and nearly 26,000 marine mammals were killed from
either the initial explosion or the oil spill.
Unfortunately, this has become a regular occurrence with deepwater drilling. The U.S. Minerals
Management Service has assumed that there have been over 600 oil spills, including 9 large ones,
since 2007.

http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/10/21/offshore-oil-drilling-in-shallow-water-good-
safety-record-less-risky/
Offshore oil drilling in shallow waters (depths of less than 500 feet) has been in existence since World War II. While
oil spills in shallow water have occurred in the past, only 15 barrels of oil have been spilled in over 11,000 shallow
water wells drilled in the past 15 yearsa remarkable record. Compared to deepwater oil drilling, shallow water
drilling is less complex, resulting in better safety records from a more established industry.
Shallow Water Oil Drilling
Drilling for oil in shallow waters is less risky and easier to repair if damaged because divers are able to reach the well.
Shallow water rigs have legs that reach the bottom of the sea floor and have blow-out preventers (BOPs) above the
surface of the water that are accessible for inspection, maintenance and repair, and can be controlled either remotely
or manually in case of an emergency. These wells are drilled in known areas and mature reservoirs. Since 1949,
46,011 wells have been drilled in less than 1,000 feet of water. The chart below compares the configuration of a
shallow well of less than 500 feet to a deeper well of 12,000 feet.[i]



According to records from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the U.S. Department of Interior, 11,070
wells were drilled in waters of less than 500 feet in the past 15 years with only 15 barrels of oil spilled.[ii] During those
15 years, the largest spill was 10 barrels, occurring offshore Louisiana on March 8, 2003. In fact, according to the
National Academy of Sciences, between 1990 and 1999, oil and gas drilling represented only one percent of all
petroleum discharged in North American waters. Recreational marine vessels, for example, discharged almost twice
as much. See chart below.

Figure 1 : Limited petroleum discharge to marine environment ( Source : based on a research from the national research council
of the national academies,2003)
However, that is not to say that accidents have not happened in shallow water. In 1979, Mexicos Ixtoc oil wells
blowout in 160 feet of water was the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico until the Deepwater Horizon spill occurred
this year. And last year, off the coast of Australia, an oil spill occurred in 250 feet of water caused by an explosion on
the rig.[iii] While some had thought oil spilled when a fire resulted from a rig explosion in shallow waters off the
Louisiana coast recently, the fire was contained and the 13 crew men were rescued without a spill occurring.[iv] Using
2008 data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that oil and natural gas extraction has a lower injury rate than 89
percent of working Americans based on industry groups, with grocery and department stores, for example, having
higher incidence rates. See chart below.


Figure 2 : Strong safety record for oil and gas extraction- Injury incident rate
Shallow-water wells produce 30 percent of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico and about two-thirds of its natural gas. Ninety-
eight percent of the 3,400 platforms operating in the Gulf are in shallow water.[v] Most of the drilling and production in
shallow waters in the U.S. outer continental shelf are not by the large oil and gas companies, but rather the small
independent producers. In 2009, 73 percent of the total production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was produced by 284
independent oil and gas companies.[vi] More recently, larger oil companies like BP and Royal Dutch Shell drilled into
deeper waters to find bigger oil and natural gas fields.[vii]



http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmenergy/450/45005.htm

Deepwater drilling depths are sometimes defined as greater than around 400m, while
water depths of greater than 1500m are defined as "ultra-deepwater". Mr Malcolm
Webb, Chief Executive of the industry association Oil and Gas UK stated :
I don't think there is an agreed industry definition of what constitutes deepwater [...]
When we started in the North Sea over 40 years ago, depths of 100 or 200 feet [30-
60m] would have been regarded as deepwater, and as our abilities and technologies
have moved forward so the definition of what is "deep" has moved with it.
Compared to conventional offshore drilling methods, deepwater presents unique
technical challenges related to greater water depths, higher pressures, manipulating the
extra long riser pipe connecting the wellhead to the rig (over 1,500m in the case of the
Deepwater Horizon), extreme temperature gradients and added costs. We found it
interesting to note Mr Webb's observation that the intervention in the well at the
seafloor switches from divers toRemotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) at "about 500 feet
[150m]",[2] as this seems to be an obvious threshold for deepwater operations.
6. The pressure in the well is controlled by ensuring that the pressure of the drilling
fluid (known as mud) in the well boreknown as the bottomhole pressureis sufficient
to oppose the pressure from the oil, gas and water in the reservoir (known as the
formation pressure or the pore pressure). This prevents fluids from the reservoir
entering the well. Dr Tony Hayward, BP's former Group Chief Executive, informed us
"the pressure on the drill pipe and the volume of [drilling] mud [...] are the two most
important parameters that are monitored and measured on a continuous basis".[3] If
the formation pressure is greater than the bottomhole pressure oil and gas would enter
the wellbore, and would lead to a blowout if uncontrolled. The drilling fluid
engineer monitors the formation pressure and increases the density of drilling mud to
balance the pressure and keep the well bore stable. These active pressure control
systems are the first line of defence against losing control of the well.
deep water brings some particular risks with it.Deepwater is characterised by
young rock formations that differ from shallow-water or onshore exploration. This is
exemplified by the narrow gap between the pressure of the oil and gas in the reservoir
and the typically small changes in pressure required to fracture the rock around it
(known as a low fracture gradient, this is typically low under deepwater). Small
increases in formation pressure can therefore cause rock fractures to occur,
destabilising the borehole and potentially leading to an influx of gas and oil (known as a
kick) which if uncontrolled could lead to a blowout. This inclination for fractures to occur
is caused by an increased weight pressing down on the oil and gas bearing rock
formation (known as overburden). This can necessitate using lighter drilling fluid, which
could potentially make it more difficult to control the well, and a lighter cement mixture
(used when fixing the pipe casing into the borehole), potentially making the well more
vulnerable to the formation of channels around the casing up which gas could flow.
Deepwater environments also present the combination of low temperatures, high
seabed pressures, gas and water that cause "gas hydrates" to form. Gas hydrates are
cages of frozen water molecules with gas trapped inside and have a tendency to bond
with metal, resulting in blockages (as occurred during BP's "top hat" operation to kill
the Macondo well).
Even though the incident in the Gulf of Mexico took place in deepwater, Mr Webb told
us: "The depth of water is not the critical element here".[5] Mr Roland Festor, Managing
Director of Total Exploration and Production UK, argued that: "Macondo has
fundamentally nothing to do with deepwater".[6] This is because, once the blowout had
occurredwhile the depth of the water made the response to the incident more
difficultit was the fact that it was a high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) well that
made it more challenging to control.

UK Deepwater Drilling Activity
The majority of wells drilled on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) are in water-depths of
less than 100m, but oil and gas exploration companies have increasingly been drilling in
deeper waters as reserves in more accessible areas run dry. Mr Webb told us: "the
deepest well so far drilled in the UK Continental Shelf was at 6,000 feet [over 1,800m]
of water".[7] According to DECC statistics on existing production installations in the
West of Shetland (WoS) Basin, BP has a platform on the Clair field, and two processing
ships in the Foinhaven and Schiehallion Fields. The Clair began production in 2005, and
has a water-depth of around 140m. The Foinhaven has a water depth of between 400-
600m and the Schiehallion 350-450m. We heard from Paul King, Managing Director of
Transocean's North Sea Division, that: "The Paul B Lloyd [a Transocean rig] is working
for BP west of Shetlands at the moment in up to 3,000 feet [over 900m] of water".[8]
The Tormore and Laggan fields are being explored by Total and lie in 630m of water.[9]
Total is also searching 1,600m underwater in the Tobermory field, north of the Clair
field. Chevron is exploring the Rosebank-Lochnagar fields in 1,115m of water.[10] In
comparison, the Deepwater Horizon was drilling in ultra-deepwater at a depth of
1,544m.
Operations on the UK Continental Shelf
11. The Macondo Well in the Gulf of Mexico was being drilled into a high-pressure, high-
temperature (HPHT) "over-pressurised" oil and gas reservoir. Over-pressurised wells
are hazardous as the fluid in the reservoir can escape rapidly. Total pointed out that
while they have operational experience of such fields in the Central North Sea, the
geological conditions encountered WoS are very different and "no significant
overpressure" has been encountered in that area to date. [11] Dr Hayward told us:
"there is nowhere where we are drilling in deepwater [in the UKCS] and the reservoirs
have high pressures and temperatures".[12]
12. DECC figures estimate that the deepwater oil and gas resource (which includes
estimates for future discoveries) of the West of Shetland and the less well explored
West of Scotland account for 15-17.5% of UK total resources. However, the resource
estimates for the West of Scotland (located north of the Outer Hebrides) area are highly
uncertain.[13]
13. As part of Total's development of the Laggan-Tormore area (600m in depth) in the
WoS, a new gas pipeline system is being built that will connect these discoveries to the
UK mainland. The new system has been "oversized" with the expectation that further
exploration and development in the coming decades (including prospects that in
isolation could not justify the cost of this infrastructure) will take advantage of the
excess capacity. This development has started with the construction of a new gas plant
in Sullom Voe, the Shetland Island's oil and gas terminal. Total hope that discoveries
such as Tobermory, located eight blocks north of the Clair field and in 1,600m of water,
will create opportunities for new fields and infrastructure that "would further protect the
UK's security of supply".[14]
14. DONG Energy is one of the largest acreage holders in the WoS region and a partner
in Total's recently sanctioned Laggan-Tormore gas development. DONG Energy is not
currently drilling as operator in UK territorial waters, but drilled the WoS Glenlivet gas
field in 2009 and has interests in a further six discoveries.[15]
15. On 1 October 2010 the Government gave the go-ahead for the first deepwater
drilling off Britain since the Gulf of Mexico incident. This consent was given to
Chevron to drill in the Lagavulin Prospect located in the West of Shetland area at a
depth of just over 1,500m (comparable to the Macondo Well). Chevron and its partners
plan to drill an exploration well in the prospect with an expected duration of six months.
In accordance with UK regulation, an Environmental Statement for the well has been in
the public domain since March 2010.[16] Chevron has drilled 18 deepwater wells in the
WoS since 1987 without serious incident, and is also exploring the Rosebank-Lochnagar
fields in 1,115m of water.[17]



Figure 3 : Gulf of mexico federal offshore oil production