Trendsetter Vulcan Offshore inks agreement with SubseaDesign for tethered BOP system

Trendsetter Vulcan Offshore (TVO) has signed an agreement to provide SubseaDesign with rights to market and commercialize TVO’s patented Tethered BOP design for use in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The TVO system is a robust, cost-effective solution for two emerging technical challenges facing the drilling industry – wellhead fatigue and wellhead strength.

“Our goal at TVO is to consider serious offshore challenges and develop innovative solutions,” Jim Maher, TVO CEO, said. “The Tethered BOP addresses serious safety issues, enabling reliable operations on new exploration wells, as well as re-entry and P&A on much older wells. We see many opportunities for this wellhead fatigue mitigation system in the relatively shallow water of the North Sea, and we are pleased to be working closely with SubseaDesign in this important market.” 

New well designs must ensure a high-value well is engineered to tolerate excessive fatigue caused by newer and larger BOPs.  The new system addresses this issue, as well as challenges presented by legacy wells, many of which were drilled with smaller BOPs and with a wellhead and conductor design that was less robust. The Tethered BOP resolves the issues that often arise when attempting to interface with newer generation BOPs

Depending on the specific riser and wellhead configuration, fatigue life has been improved by as much as 1,000 times the original unmitigated wellhead fatigue. An added benefit is the increased limits to the rig watch circle, particularly in shallow water, where watch circles can be very restrictive.

“The introduction of this technology, which complies with the demanding NORSOK standards, into the Norwegian sector provides operators and drillers with the cost-effective means to solve a growing issue within the industry,” Eivind Rasten, SubseaDesign President, said.