Churchill deploys circulation sub in Iceland geothermal project

Churchill Drilling Tools announced it ran its DAV MX CircSub in the world’s deepest (4,650 m) and hottest (427°C) geothermal borehole in the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) in 2017. The tool was selected on the recommendation of a major operator and partner for the IDDP due to its robust temperature resistance and experience in HPHT conventional wells. The tool offered a contingency against pack-off related circulation loss in which the BHA components would be cooked if circulation was lost. 

Since then, operators have run the DAV MX CircSub 11 times in geothermal wells, activating the tool on 13 occasions. In 2018, this included an onshore geothermal well in the Netherlands, where the operator, running two DAV MX CircSubs, was able to boost annular velocity and optimize its hole-cleaning process, increasing the volume of cuttings returns and reducing the time to transport the cuttings to surface by around 75%.

“The DAV MX CircSub’s resilience, reliability and versatility in the most challenging of environments, including the world’s deepest and hottest geothermal well, provides operators with the confidence to run our tools,” Corin Lewsey, Churchill’s European Regional Account Manager, said. “Indeed, demand for the DAV MX CircSub across the industry is at record levels, and we’re particularly encouraged by growing demand and interest in the geothermal sector.”

Churchill’s DAV MX CircSub has been run on almost 2,000 occasions and activated nearly 1,000 times.

“We have ambitious plans to expand our presence in the geothermal market and are pleased with our progress to date,” Mr Lewsey said. “With our track record and knowing that our competition simply cannot match the flexibility, reliability and resilience of the DAV MX CircSub, we’re confident that the geothermal sector will become a significant market for Churchill.”