Neodrill and Siccar Point Energy announce ongoing partnership for Cambo development well

Neodrill has announced a new contract with Siccar Point Energy for an optimization study on the CAN-ductor as part of the Cambo field development. The study was awarded following the success of the Cambo appraisal well in 2018, which saw Neodrill’s CAN-ductor deliver a strong well foundation under extremely soft seabed conditions in deepwater.

Neodrill’s engineering team designed and developed a 32×20 in. CAN-ductor to meet the appraisal well’s challenging conditions. Installed at a water depth of 1,082 m, and a final inclination of 0.20 degrees, the project was successfully carried out under challenging weather conditions.

“The CAN provides great inertia to the operation. When the rig arrives on location, it can wake up the transponders, run the 17.5 in. assembly from the derrick, and drill to approximately 840 m in the first 36 hours,” Colin Higgins, Wells Manager at Siccar Point, said.

As the conductor is installed prior to rig arrival, the CAN-ductor typically removes 2-4 rig days per well and alleviates the need for the heavy lifting of tubulars. “The top hole section of each well has very high levels of time and cost uncertainty for deep water drilling. As the CAN-ductor eliminates this completely, it was a key selling point for us,” Mr Higgins said.

“It was due to the total value offered by the CAN and not an individual benefit in isolation,” Mr Higgins added, explaining the reason the CAN-ductor was selected.

As well as cost savings and increased safety measures, there are also substantial environmental benefits to the technology. The environmental impact of the CAN-ductor is between 21-44% less than that of a conventionally drilled well for top hole activity. CO2 emissions in particular are decreased by 32%.

The new optimization study will look at the CAN design, with a view to examining how to deliver the required load capacity for the lifetime of the production wells. Furthermore, certain subsea production systems equipment will be integrated into the CAN-ductor as part of the analysis.

“Cambo was an important project for us,” Jostein Aleksandersen, Neodrill’s Chief Executive Officer, said. “As our second deployment in the UK North Sea, we demonstrated the adaptability of our technology under challenging conditions. We successfully installed our longest CAN in deepwater during February in the West of Shetland – this is not an easy task.”

“The success of this project is proof that Neodrill is a problem solver for operators who are experiencing challenging issues with the seabed conditions,” Mr Aleksandersen added.

“We are are looking forward to the optimization study and are grateful for the opportunity to put our industry-leading technology to the test once again. As a company that embraces smarter, greener and safer technology, we share many values with Siccar Point Energy and are very proud of our ongoing partnership,” Mr Aleksandersen concluded.