World-first cut-and-recover operation conducted for Wintershall in Norwegian Sea

Neodrill and Baker Hughes have performed the world’s first cut-and-recover operation for Wintershall Dea Norge in the Norwegian Sea. Rig time was reduced by an estimated 12 hours, with work to cut the surface casing moved off the critical path of the rig schedule.

The project enabled the rig to abandon the well site as soon as the cement plugs were in place. The surface casing was then cut from a vessel, using Baker Hughes’ new casing-cutting tool. This optimized process removes the need for rig time in the abandonment phase. 

The new cut-and-recover service will be offered as part of Neodrill’s CAN-complete. This enables Neodrill to offer a full service engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) solution to manage all aspects of a CAN installation, reducing the operator’s internal resource requirements and overheads. 

“With every project, we carefully consider our approach and how it can be improved to drive forward even more cost savings for our clients,” Jostein Aleksandersen, Neodrill CEO, said. “Our CAN technology has already been proven to reduce rig time by 2-4 days to establish a top-hole foundation, and now we are pleased to be reducing time in the abandonment phase, too. As a team, we are very proud to have been involved in the world’s first cut-and-recover operation. Working with Baker Hughes, we removed 12 hours from the rig schedule and delivered real cost savings for Wintershall Dea as a result.”

“The cut-and-recover service will be offered as part of our standard CAN-complete offering,” Mr Aleksandersen said. “At a time of uncertainty for the sector, we are proud to be bringing new solutions to the market that have a positive impact in terms of costs, safety and the environment.”

“The choice of the CAN-ductor was based on finding sustainable solutions for drilling in a sensitive area,” Tore Øian, Head of Drilling in Wintershall Dea, said. “It turned out to be economically sound also. The new recovery method is a continuation of the environmental focus and the cost-effective way of running this project.”

“We are very pleased to partner with Neodrill to deliver for Wintershall Dea this cut-and-recover operation, using our leading technology that improves safety and efficiencies,” Tom Huuse, Director, Norway & Denmark Oilfield Equipment for Baker Hughes, said. “We look forward to support our global customer base with our technology offerings.”