Deloitte and NASA bring space-age risk management to oil and gas industry

In a move designed to bring advanced risk-management capabilities to America’s energy industry, the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions and the NASA Johnson Space Center have entered into a strategic alliance to offer services, such as operational risk-management, to oil and gas companies.

“Activities like deepwater drilling, undersea production and pipeline operations all face the same kind of ‘black swan’ events that pose a threat to space exploration,” said David Traylor, a principal at Deloitte & Touche LLP.  “Ultimately, proactively identifying and mitigating low-probability yet high-impact events can save lives, resources, money, reputation and environmental disruption.”

Deloitte and NASA will jointly offer a range of services in the quickly evolving risk-sciences arena, such as risk modeling and simulation, to help oil and gas companies eliminate blind spots in their decision making. Such services apply sophisticated risk-modeling and simulation tools and techniques, like Bayesian networks and agent-based modeling to reduce uncertainties in engineering and operations at oil and gas companies – in much the same way NASA has done with its space program.

As part of NASA’s 135th and final space shuttle mission, for example, it used risk-modeling and simulation techniques to evaluate the potential risk scenarios of using a Soyuz spacecraft to rescue a stranded crew from the International Space Station – with no backup shuttle capability. This process identified risks linked with the Russian vehicle and helped drive a decision to extend crew time on the space station.

“NASA is a leader in applying risk strategy to highly complex systems that operate in extremely demanding environments, while Deloitte is a leader in providing valuable professional services to oil and gas companies,” said veteran astronaut William “Bill” McArthur Jr., director of Safety and Mission Assurance at the Johnson Space Center. “Energy companies facing catastrophic consequences from low probability risks will now have a range of tools and techniques to minimize the probability of these risks and improve their overall safety culture.”

Deloitte and NASA also expect that oil and gas companies will find Deloitte’s risk-sensing services valuable in emerging risk identification – a set of complex tools and techniques, like precursor analysis and event-occurrence trending, to highlight changes in risk likelihood.

NASA used these techniques when it was having problems with the space shuttle’s attitude-control thrusters, which could limit the ability to control the position of the shuttle while in orbit. Because the thrusters could not be tested on the ground, precursor analysis was used to determine leading indicators and surrounding events preceding thruster usage – allowing the space agency to resolve the problems before future missions.

Deloitte and NASA’s offerings will also include what Mr Traylor calls “dynamically improving risk-management techniques,” such as artificial-intelligence tools applied to remote decision-support systems.

In addition, Deloitte and NASA will offer services aimed at helping oil and gas companies measure and monitor the effectiveness of their risk culture among their employees and contractors – enabling them to detect whether their work environments and processes are increasing the likelihood of a risk occurring.

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BP/Maersk look outside industry to develop HPHT drilling technology

By Astrid Wynne, contributing editor

A main challenge in Maersk’s project with BP will be to create a full package for HPHT, particularly with well control, Maersk Drilling chief technical officer Frederik Smidth said.

A partnership between BP and Maersk Drilling to develop conceptual engineering designs for HPHT drilling technology is looking beyond industry norms. “Higher pressure can be taken care of with more steel, to put it in simple terms, but the high temperatures have implications on the seal technology within the risers, the material technology inside the BOP and the rams to take the high temperatures. That’s where we might have to look a little bit outside our industry for solutions,” Frederik Smidth, chief technical officer at Maersk Drilling, told Drilling Contractor.

As the project is just beginning – the two companies announced their partnership agreement in February – much still needs to be explored. However, Mr Smidth said he already sees that one major challenge will be to create a reliable package for HPHT, even if certain technology components are already available. Major vendors, for example, have development of 20,000-psi well control equipment and driller risers under way.

“I see the main challenge is to get the full well control package safe and efficient to operate. We will need a hookload capacity beyond the current 2.5 million lbs for these types of wells, but the challenge is finding the well control and lifting structure equipment and the flexible hoses and connections used in the drilling system.”

Under Maersk’s agreement with BP, the initial studies will outline the basic design criteria, such as hookload capacity and the vessel size and type that will be capable of operating in a 20,000-psi and 350?F environment, as well as the safety systems needed to protect and train crews. Phase 1 of the project is expected to last approximately one year, with a potential extension into a contract for a finalized design that could culminate in an order by late 2015 or early 2016.

“The first units would begin drilling the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2018 or 2019, with possible additional requirements in Egypt and Azerbaijan if a contract is awarded,” Mr Smidth said.

He added that this joint project with BP is also providing Maersk Drilling with valuable insight into the deepwater cost structure from an operator’s perspective. Knowledge found within BP’s deepwater well database, for example, is helping Maersk to design systems to reduce nonproductive time.

“The total cost of drilling a deepwater well in the US GOM is around $1.2 to $1.3 million a day. We, as the drilling company, account for only 50% of the costs for an oil company,” Mr Smidth explained. “It is interesting to understand the other half of those costs, like for example the 30% to 40% nonproductive time when drilling deepwater wells. We expect to gain a knowledge that can be used in more traditional rig designs. The aim of the process is to build rigs which are safer, faster and cheaper to operate.”

Going forward, Mr Smidth sees the potential for more collaborative technical projects between drilling contractors and oil companies. “For the new frontiers – 20k, Arctic Sea, Barent Sea, the high H2S drilling in the northern Caspian – I think this kind of cooperation is essential. Drilling costs are increasing, and we can only reduce them by understanding each other’s cost structure.”

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Can’t keep the offshore industry down

Rig utilization, dayrates continue ascent in vibrant global market

By Katherine Scott, associate editor

Vantage Drilling’s Platinum Explorer drillship is working for ONGC in India on a five-year contract at a dayrate of $590,000. The drillship is equipped to operate in up to 10,000 ft.

The global offshore industry is undeniably enjoying another renaissance. Both the deepwater and jackup segments are benefitting from high utilization and climbing dayrates in almost every market around the world, and few doubt this positive outlook will continue for the foreseeable future. In deepwater, prospects continue to soar as operators and contractors subtly shift focus from exploratory drilling to development drilling – even while a vast amount of untapped deepwater acreage still awaits development. For jackups, which appear to be operating at a historically high point globally, demand is exploding and dayrates have in some cases nearly doubled versus just two years ago.

“The general feeling is it’s still very much vibrant. E&P spending is still rising, perhaps not as fast as last year, but somewhere close to 10% is expected for 2013,” Sven Ziegler, head of offshore research for RS Platou, said. “When it comes to offshore and the rig universe, global utilization is still very high for both jackups and floaters.” As of March, utilization for the worldwide jackup fleet was around 93%, with full utilization for modern units. “And floaters are basically fully booked, so at the moment it’s good for rig owners.”

According to an RS Platou rig report, in 2012, deepwater dayrates in the Gulf of Mexico, South America and Africa spiked in the second half of the year. So far in 2013, deepwater dayrates have reached highs of $423,000 in the Gulf of Mexico, $410,000 in South America and $515,000 in Africa.

RS Platou defines shallow water as up to 400 ft, mid-water from 400 ft to 3,000 ft, deepwater from 3,000 ft to 7,500 ft and ultra-deepwater as deeper than 7,500 ft. Mr Ziegler noted that although the offshore industry is continuously progressing deeper, most ultra-deepwater units today are still operating only in deepwater. “Units that have over 7,500-ft capability are mainly being used between 3,000 and 7,500 ft… Ultra-deepwater is still coming. Once the deepwater discoveries become smaller and less frequent, then companies will move to ultra-deepwater.”

For the wells that are being drilled in deepwater, Mr Ziegler noted that more contractors are turning their focus to development drilling. “Oil companies are likely to reallocate drilling resources (rigs) from exploration to development. If they can’t do that, they have to go into the market and find new ultra-deepwater rigs. At the same time, dayrates in ultra-deepwater have gone up basically 50% to around $600,000 in the last year and a half.”

Opportunities abound not only for drilling contractors but operators as well, with a vast amount of deepwater and ultra-deepwater “virgin territory” remaining in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), African east and west coasts, Brazil, the Mediterranean, Australia and parts of Asia. “One thing that is certain: Oil companies see the deep and ultra-deepwater discoveries as very attractive investments,” Mr Ziegler said. “At the same time, many of these discoveries that have been made in the last five to 10 years are moving into the development stage now.”

RS Platou’s April rig report charts dayrates for jackups operating in less than 300 ft. The top graph illustrates high dayrates for the past year for modern jackups while the bottom graph charts the lowest rates for jackups built before 1998.

For companies interested in the promises of ultra-deepwater, the focus remains on drillships, Doug Halkett, COO for Vantage Drilling said. “Unless you need a rig for harsh environments, the drillship is definitely the ultra-deepwater rig of choice just because it’s more flexible, you can put more equipment onboard and transit is better. There are not very many semisubmersibles being built, certainly not for international operations.”

A relatively new company, Vantage Drilling became operational in February 2009. “Since we started, I don’t think there have been many other start-up drilling contractors offshore. I think people have learned that it’s not very easy to start an offshore drilling contractor. It takes a lot of money, and it takes a huge amount of effort to build the systems and to get the teams together,” Mr Halkett said.

Vantage Drilling currently owns and manages four jackups and three drillships in different parts of the world, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Ivory Coast, India and the GOM.

A newbuild drillship, the Tungsten Explorer, is expected to be delivered at the end of May in South Korea. It has a contract for an unnamed operator for two years, plus two years of options, commencing in mid-2014 in West Africa. Prior to that contract commencement, Vantage is marketing the rig for short-term “fill in” work. The rig is being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME); it will be capable of drilling wells up to 40,000 ft deep and operating in up to 12,000 ft of water.

Frigstad Engineering recently launched its D90 design. “The D90 has an extremely neat, open, large deck with a focus on rational logistics solutions,” Øystein Bondevik, managing director, said. Frigstad believes the D90 may be the world’s largest ultra-deepwater semi.

Vantage also won a contract last year from Oro Negro, a Mexican drilling contractor, to manage four jackups in Mexico for PEMEX. “We get to expand our operating fleet size without spending our capital,” Mr Halkett said of the contract. “The management business is a little bit trickier, and there are not many drilling contractors interested in that, but we are one of those that are interested.”

New ultra-deepwater rig design, record signal more to come

Frigstad Engineering, a Cyprus-based offshore rig engineering company, recently launched its latest D90 design for a new ultra-deepwater semisubmersible that the company calls the world’s largest. “The D90 has an extremely neat, open, large deck with a focus on rational logistics solutions, which makes it perhaps also the most efficient rig in the world,” Øystein Bondevik, the company’s managing director, said.

Frigstad started with the base of its current design, the recently delivered Scarabeo 9, then scaled it up by approximately 25%. “We worked together with Aker and NOV in order to develop a drilling system that we feel was more efficient than any other existing rigs. We see the trend going towards deeper water and that you’re going to operate for a longer period on your own. It has to be more efficient because you’re further from the shore for the operation, and the rig has to be self-sustaining for a certain period of time,” Mr Bondevik said.

To design the rig, Frigstad took the base of Saipem’s Scarabeo 9, designed by Frigstad, then scaled it up by approximately 25%.

Frigstad Deepwater, a privately owned strand of the Frigstad Group, has already ordered two D90s that  are being built at CIMC Raffles in Yantai, China. The order includes options for four more units. Deliveries are scheduled for Q4 2015 and Q2 2016, respectively.

The D90 will be able to operate in up to 95% of ultra-deepwater basins around the world, Mr Bondevik said, although the current D90 rigs on order will not be prepared for the Arctic. “Right now, most ultra-deepwater rigs are drilling in deepwater and mid-water, so there’s still an untapped demand for ultra-deepwater newbuilds. Plus, most newbuilds are based on an older design, and when they upgrade, it can make the rigs not as efficient,” he said. The two new D90 rigs are built around an NOV Dual Activity Rig with 2 x 1,400 ton lifting capacity and two 7-ram BOPs. They will have the capacity to operate in up to 12,000 ft of water and a 53,000-ft drilling depths, with a vertical racking capacity for 10,100 ft of drilling riser in 106-ft stands and 53,000 ft of drill pipe in quad stands.

Frigstad’s design also took into account the need for more people onboard as contractors bring in further service personnel. “On smaller rigs, it used to 100, then it came to 150. We have accounted for 200 people onboard, which can also be increased.” The rigs will have 200 single beds, each cabin with its own window for crew comfort and safety.

Taking notice of the opportunities present in deeper waters, India’s ONGC set a record earlier this year for drilling a well in the deepest water. The operations were conducted using Transocean’s Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 (DDKG1) drillship in a water depth of 3,165 meters (10,385 ft). “This is a back-to-back deepwater record for India, as the previous water-depth record was held by rig DDKG2 at 3,107 meters (10,194 ft) in Cauvery Basin, also on the east coast of India. These developments show that Indian operators are very optimistic about the deepwater future in India and is sure to revive the interest of international players in Indian deepwaters,” Shashi Shanker, ONGC director of technology & field services, said. “The ultra-deepwater market has expanded over the initial years in India but is presently at a plateau. However, in coming years, it is expected to boom again.”

Hercules Offshore’s Hercules 266 jackup is drilling offshore Saudi Arabia.

To achieve the deepwater drilling record, the DDKG1 drillship was provided with additional inputs, including mobilization of 2,000 ft of risers and upgrading telemetry cans of the ROV for increased water depths, as well as a risk-sharing model to address issues such as repair of the subsea BOP and its control system at great water depths. The rig, contracted to ONGC until July 2013, was designed for well depths up to 37,500 ft and water depths to 12,000 ft, Mr Shanker said. He added that the record set this year was the 19th well drilled by DDKG1 and that ONGC plans to use the rig to drill more wells in waters beyond 10,000 ft. ONGC also has another ultra-deepwater rig, Vantage Drilling’s Platinum Explorer, on contract until December 2015.

The Hercules 260 jackup is on contract in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both rigs are capable of drilling in water depths up to 250 ft. The company has seen jackup activity explode, especially outside the Gulf of Mexico.

Although the industry spotlight often shines on ultra-deepwater activities, the strength of the jackup market is also formidable. In the global jackup market, approximately 50 newbuilds are under construction, of which roughly 40 will be delivered in 2013, Greg Lewis, research analyst with Credit Suisse, stated.

Hercules Offshore has seen jackup activity explode, especially outside the GOM. “There’s more jackups working outside the US Gulf of Mexico than there ever has been. We’re at an all-time peak globally; there are 375 jackups working outside the Gulf of Mexico, and you’ve got a global demand in excess of 400 rigs,” John Rynd, president and CEO of Hercules Offshore, said.

New rig orders for the past year, according to RS Platou’s April rig report, has mostly been for premium jackups and ultra-deepwater drillships.

Every major jackup market is short on rigs, he noted. “If you look globally, there are three companies that use the most rigs: PEMEX, Saudi Aramco and ONGC. They will run easily 25% of the world’s jackup fleet, and they all need more rigs,” he said. “The first place you look is what are the demands from the big consumers, because if they’re letting equipment go, that’s going to cause weakness in the markets. But if they’re trying to grow rigs, they’re going to attract rigs and tighten the market up.”

Hercules Offshore currently has 38 rigs in its global fleet. In the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), 19 are under contract (18 operating and one set to enter service in May 2013) and 10 are cold-stacked. Outside the GOM, nine rigs, of which six are on contract, are spread out in Myanmar, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, Gabon, Bahrain and Malaysia.

Hercules Offshore also has 32% ownership in a new company called Discovery Offshore that was established in 2011. “We’re building two high-capacity, harsh-environment HPHT jackups that can work anywhere in the world except for Norway,” Mr Rynd said of Discovery Offshore. The rigs are under construction at the Keppel FELS yard in Singapore, with deliveries set for June and October of this year. Both will have a 2-million-lb hookload drilling system, 15,000-psi blowout preventer systems and will be capable of operating in water depths up to 400 ft and drilling wells up to 35,000 ft.

“We’re close to securing work for them when they come out of the yard, targeting the Middle East and the North Sea,” Mr Rynd said.

The Energy Endeavour, a harsh-environment jackup designed for year-round operations in the southern North Sea and seasonally in the central North Sea in water depths up to 300 ft, is operating in the Danish sector of the southern North Sea for Maersk Oil until May 2013. Under a new contract with ADTI, the rig will mobilize to the UK Sector of the North Sea; the contract is scheduled to commence in mid-June.

Improvement in dayrates is another metric that’s pointing to a continued positive future for the global jackup market. “As an example, dayrates for standard jackups in the North Sea have climbed significantly to the $160,000 range from mid-$80,000 or lower two or so years ago, so they’ve had quite a bit of improvement in their demand. It’s rather a very dynamic market right now,” Paul Ravesies, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Northern Offshore, said. Mr Ravesies also believes that, despite an increasing supply, jackup dayrates have significantly increased in other markets around the world as well.

On Northern Offshore’s Energy Endeavour, workers stop to hold essential safety meetings – “Time Out For Safety” and “Toolbox Talks” – to assess any potential conflicts with a specific job.

Northern Offshore currently operates two jackups in the Danish sector of the southern North Sea, a mid-water semisubmersible in India and a mid-water drillship offshore Vietnam. “There is a limited supply of rigs that are qualified to work in the North Sea, and the barriers to entry are rather high. We were fortunate enough to get through the low point in 2009 to 2010 when there wasn’t a lot of work, and now we are benefitting from increased demand and higher dayrates,” he said. “In 2010, the North Sea standard jackup market was $65,000 to $80,000 a day, which is really not much more than your operating costs. Currently, rates are in the range of $155,000 to $165,000, and we’re seeing longer-term contracts of a year or more being tendered for.”

Northern Offshore has a safety policy of “back to basics,” where it holds one-day workshops focusing on expectations and identifying good practices, as well as barriers to success, quarterly management reviews and benchmarking.

Although Northern Offshore believes that the continued addition of larger, heavy-duty jackups to the global market will not significantly impact its current fleet, the company does see a need to eventually transition to a newer asset base. “As we move into the next phase, we expect to open up other geographic areas, and we will grow the organization as we need to. But we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, so our focus is and will remain to manage an efficient, lean and professionally run operation.”

Mr Halkett of Vantage Drilling, which has four jackups operating in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Ivory Coast, said that just four or five years ago, ultra-premium jackups were considered special in the market. “Now, those rigs have become the standard jackup rig that many operators want to use; they are the workhorse of the industry. It’s become more of the standard rather than the exception. Ultimately, the 30- to 35-year-old jackups will be forced out and retired because they’ve become too expensive to maintain and less efficient to operate.”

Currently, older equipment is spread out between West Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Gulf of Mexico, he continued, noting that he foresees “a gravitation of some of the newer jackups to all of these areas over the coming years” in addition to the North Sea.

The Emerald Driller jackup is operating in Thailand for PTTEP through Q2 2013 at a dayrate of $130,000. The Vantage Drilling unit can work in maximum water depths of 375 ft and has a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft.

Another changing trend within the jackup market is construction location. Although most new jackups are still built in Singapore, more work is now moving to Chinese shipyards. “Singapore has really been the shipyard location of choice for many people to build jackups, but they’re going to partly see that market eaten up by the Chinese,” Mr Halkett said. “The Chinese are aggressive pricing-wise and can also potentially bring some financing. That attracts some drilling contractors, but it also attracts a lot of the speculators. They think they can order a cheap rig with low down payments and then sell it on for a profit later to more established drilling contractors at $20 million to $30 million more later.” (Read more about the shipyard boom on Page 62.)

Vantage Drilling’s Titanium Explorer drillship is working for Petrobras in the Gulf of Mexico on an eight-year contract at a dayrate of $572,000. The drillship is equipped to operate in up to 12,000 ft of water and has a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft.

In a recent discussion with investors, Kevin Robert, Ensco SVP of marketing, described a “very bullish outlook in terms of customer demand for both deepwater and shallow-water offshore markets. We expect that visible demand should keep the market fairly balanced for the foreseeable future, even with the increase in rig supply resulting from newbuild deliveries,” he said.

For the US Gulf of Mexico, jackups ENSCO 86, ENSCO 90 and ENSCO 99 all recently obtained six- to nine-month contracts at approximately $110,000/day, which represented increases of up to $30,000/day from their previous contracts. “We expect the US Gulf jackup market to remain strong in 2013 as drilling activity continues to be bolstered by strong oil prices and a lack of available rig capacity. We expect the floater market in the US Gulf to remain very active during 2013. More than a half-dozen clients are looking for rigs to drill programs starting this year,” Mr Robert stated.

Transocean’s Discoverer Clear Leader ultra-deepwater drillship is operating in the US GOM under a five-year contract with Chevron. The rig was the first of Transocean’s five newbuild enhanced Enterprise-class drillships put into service. Image courtesy of Transocean

In Mexico, the UK North Sea, Denmark and the Middle East, Ensco also expects strong jackup demand. “PEMEX plans to add six to eight incremental jackups to its fleet of rigs currently under contract.  PEMEX’s increasing demand for jackups enabled us to extend all four of Ensco’s 250-ft independent cantilever jackups working in Mexico at rates in the low $90,000s. PEMEX is also planning to add to their mid-water fleet,” he continued.

In the Asia Pacific region, Ensco believes jackup dayrates will continue to increase, as evidenced by contracts obtained on its premium rigs. “We expect the Asia Pacific jackup market to remain tightly balanced in 2013 even after considering 34 competitive newbuild jackups delivered this year, since we believe the majority of these rigs are already committed. The Asia Pacific region has always been an active floater market and is now showing some deepwater growth,” Mr Robert reported.

RS Platou charts show that year-over-year global demand for jackups has remained mostly steady. Demand is broken down in the bottom chart by region: North Atlantic, GOM, South America, West/South Africa, the Pacific Rim and what RS Platou calls “rest of the world” (ROW), including India, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, North and East Africa, and the Middle East.

Turning to the West Africa floater markets, Mr Robert said the company continues to see high levels of tender activity for floaters commencing operations into 2015. Final contract approval for the ENSCO DS-7 drillship in Angola was received in February. “The dayrate will average in the high $640,000 range over the three-year term. We agreed with the client on the dayrate in the third quarter of 2012, and it took some time to receive all the necessary approvals. Looking ahead, we believe Angola still has unfulfilled demand of four to six floaters, and we expect other countries in West Africa to pick up three to five rigs in 2013.”

In New Zealand, the company contracted ENSCO 107 to OMV for the Maari Field development at $230,000/day, plus mobilization and demobilization costs. “This is a significant contract for many reasons,” Mr Robert explained. “The presence of ENSCO 107 in New Zealand is expected to attract other operators to utilize the rig, resulting in a longer-term stay in the country than the initial 10-month term. And the dayrate is a leading-edge rate for this rig class and approaches the peak rate achieved during the last market up cycle, which bodes well for the future jackup market in the region.”

Global offshore technology & HSE

Drilling offshore is not without its challenges, but industry is proactively developing solutions. At Chevron, well control is a significant focus area. “Chevron Drilling and Completions is formulating a comprehensive well control assurance process called WELLSAFE, which holistically focuses on critical aspects of well control for the operations we manage, including influx prevention, equipment integrity, procedures and personnel competency,” Eric Wagner, Chevron general manager, Global Drilling & Completions Category Management, said. “Another critical challenge is equipment reliability. Operators and their drilling business partners need to continue to collaborate in eliminating significant events and reducing nonproductive time.”

Image courtesy of Pacific Drilling
Pacific Drilling’s Pacific Santa Ana drillship commenced its five-year contract with Chevron in March 2012 and began operations in the US Gulf of Mexico in May that year.

Chevron currently has 34 offshore rigs on contract with a mix of base business, major capital projects and exploration activities in areas including the US Gulf of Mexico, Canada, Brazil, the UK sector, West Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, China and Australia. Mr Wagner said he believes the “hot spot” markets of West Africa, US Gulf of Mexico and Brazil will continue to remain robust for the industry, and Chevron expects to add ultra-deepwater rigs in Indonesia and West Africa at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. “We see the current offshore dayrates as steady and have cooled off from the 2012 market demands, but we are closely monitoring the market through 2014, when a significant number of newbuild rigs arrive on the market.”

The company’s strategy, Mr Wagner said, is to implement the most advanced technology and to contract recently constructed rigs. “In addition to safety and environmental protection, reducing between-well cycle time, increasing up-time on the rig operation’s critical path and preventing significant lost-time events are all important drivers for us.  We believe cutting-edge technology and newer assets advance these objectives.”

Global rig demand for floaters, according to RS Platou’s April rig report, has had a positive year-over-year change over the past 12 months. Regional demand in the bottom graph shows that demand for floaters has been especially high in West and South Africa, the Pacific Rim (Southeast Asia and Australia) and the rest of the world (ROW) category, which in this case includes India, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and North Africa.

In today’s offshore markets, in whatever part of the world with whatever rig, operators want increased reliability, Thor Arne Haverstad, executive vice president and head of drilling technologies for Aker Solutions, said. “The really big step-change that we are trying to work with is to look more into the efficiency picture, which for a drilling contractor means better uptime and more stable income, but if you ask the oil companies, it’s about deliverable wells, and that’s where MPO (managed pressure operations) technology fits in.”

Aker Solutions recently acquired Managed Pressure Operations International, a company that specializes in continuous circulation, riser gas handling and managed pressure drilling (MPD) systems. In offshore operations globally, Mr Haverstad said, Aker Solutions has seen that MPD is becoming an increasingly common request from oil companies and that they will need it more and more going forward. “We are sure about that, so in a way we found a competent environment with some clever people that could help us.”

Especially in deepwater, MPD is more and more being used to enhance kick detection, Charles Orbell, president and CEO of Managed Pressure Operations, noted. “With the deal with Aker Solutions, it allows us now to build an integrated MPD system rather than offer separate services.” The system, which is still under development, can isolate the well in five seconds, he said, which could be especially useful for fractured carbonates in Angola, Asia or Brazil. “There’s a step-change coming in understanding from the operators and the drilling contractors for this type of technology.”

Mr Orbell believes new rig designs will require both riser safety systems and MPD systems built into the rig. “You look at the rigs coming out of shipyards now with the same technology we had 20 years ago for monitoring the well, and the operators are no longer going to accept that. We’re sitting on 12,000 ft and already people are looking out to 20,000 ft – what do we need to do to get there? There are ongoing projects looking at what technology we need to drill in those environments. I believe personally, in the coming years, that if drilling contractors want their deepwater rigs hired, they will have riser safety systems and MPD built into the rig.”

According to an April rig report by RS Platou, demand for ultra-deepwater units has significantly increased over the past year, particularly in areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, South America, and West and South Africa.

Regardless, companies will want to build flexibility into new rigs, Glenn Ellis, senior vice president and head of Aker Solutions’ drilling technologies business in the US, said, even if rigs are built against a contract. For instance, consider the US GOM being shut down after Macondo. Mr Ellis believes that flexibility of the rigs provided contractors and operators the opportunity to move them out of the Gulf and into another market to continue working. “They need to have options… Ultimately, the strategy is to develop something that is global.”

Like technology, safety is another evolving element of offshore drilling being pushed to adapt to increasingly harsh drilling environments and complex operations. In To further enhance offshore drilling safety, contractors with multinational operations have been working to develop HSE programs that can be used across the whole organization. Odfjell Drilling, which predominately operates on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, decided to develop a standardized QHSE program when three of its newbuilds were contracted to new operational regions. “Two years ago, we had three newbuild units, the Deepsea Metro I in Tanzania, the Deepsea Stavanger in Tanzania then to Angola, and then we had Deepsea Metro II in Brazil,” said Tove Spjeld, manager of QHSE competence & improvement for Odfjell Drilling. “We saw that we needed to be hands-on with regards to establishing a common HSE culture and to give qualified support to the units.”

Aker Solutions’s MH DDM 1000 AC top drive onboard Seadrill’s West Hercules semisubmersible is one of the company’s best-selling drilling machines. Aker delivered the complete drilling equipment package for the rig in 2008.

Just launched this year, the Odfjell Drilling coaching program started with the company’s core values: to develop committed and motivated employees, to be safety conscious, to be creative in handling challenges, to be competent and result oriented, as well as having a desire for open communication lines. “When we are open, then we can really get a chance to move forward,” Ms Spjeld said.

The program’s curriculum includes offshore leadership, a buddy system, permit to work, housekeeping, managing risk and safety tools like safety checklists, stopping the job and HSE meetings. Employees undergo the program before the rig is mobilized to the operations, and it can take months to cover the rig’s entire crew. “We know, due to studies, that implementing an HSE culture takes time; it takes years if you’re not putting any extra effort into it. We want to be ahead of that and put an extra effort in and implement the HSE culture as early as possible.”

At the DSME yard in South Korea, five rigs have been outfitted with complete drilling packages from Aker Solutions: (clockwise from top left) Grupo R’s Bicentenario and La Muralla IV, Vantage Drilling’s Platinum Explorer, Odebrecht Oil & Gas’s Norbe VIII and Petroserv’s Carolina. Image courtesy of DSME

Odfjell Drilling’s goal is to achieve its QHSE principles by developing an HSE culture based on competence, involvement and commitment in applying company HSE rules, Ms Spjeld said, which are: “I will always comply with rules and procedures. I will always risk assess my work, and I will always act when I see unsafe behavior and conditions.”

The company believes that openness, dialogue and exchange of views and experience are important requirements for continual improvement within all operations. “When we are implementing our HSE culture, we are expecting the same from every operation, and we do have the same requirements, so we stay ahead. When we are open with our reporting, then we can really get a chance to move forward,” Ms Spjeld said. “This is a prerequisite for our growth and strategy as a company that we are able to operate in the same safe way whatever country or region that we operate in.”

D90 is a trademark of Frigstad Engineering.

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IADC chairman David Williams: Member participation integral to propel industry forward

By Katherine Scott, associate editor

IADC is working hard to support drillers and ensure that every crew member has the training, knowledge and support they need to work safely and efficiently “in a business that demands the very best,” 2013 IADC chairman David Williams said.

IADC is devoting significant energy and focus to address the interests of its onshore members, including the creation of an Onshore Committee and the establishment of regional forums in Midland, Denver, Lafayette and Oklahoma City, 2013 IADC chairman David Williams said in the keynote presentation at the IADC Drilling Onshore Conference & Exhibition in Houston on 16 May. Such groups will provide places for members to discuss issues that drillers are facing in the onshore market. “Safety, for example, remains the primary focus of IADC and its member companies, and rightly so. Safety is our most important operational integrity measure, and zero incidents is the target of every driller and our customers,” Mr Williams said.

One key initiative that IADC kicked off in 2012 is the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) project, which is expected to be completed this year. This milestone project to develop enhanced competency guidelines will help to ensure that rig crews have the appropriate training and skills to work safely and efficiently “in a business that demands the very best,” Mr Williams said.

Another project under way is the IADC Drilling Lexicon, a website that will provide a forum for critical review of drilling terms. “As we all know, terms and definitions shift overtime, and we’ll need everyone in the industry to keep this website up to date for the benefit of everybody,” Mr Williams said. One major goal in providing these commonly used drilling terms is to assist regulators around the world in developing regulations that are consistent with international standards.

IADC has further assembled a team of more than 100 drilling experts to update the IADC Drilling Manual. Major revisions of the IADC HSE Guidelines and Deepwater Well Control Guidelines are under way as well.

Cactus Drilling’s Ron Tyson, who is serving as vice president of the IADC Onshore Division, introduced David Williams at the opening session of the IADC Drilling Onshore Conference in Houston on 16 May.

“These are just a handful of examples of the important initiatives that IADC committees and staff are currently working on to forward the goals of our association. But none of these activities can happen without you. Our members play an integral part in moving the industry forward, and it’s only with your participation that IADC can achieve success. Committees, chapters and conferences like this are all ways to become more involved in IADC,” Mr Williams said.

Additionally, IADC continues an reorganization its committee structure, with one goal being to enhance the value of committees focused on onshore issues, including the Rig Moving and Well Servicing committees, he said. “We recognize that the important work and the necessary work to change our industry for the better is generated in IADC’s committees. The committees are a place where people come together to share experiences, brainstorm new ideas and develop initiatives with the industry,” he stressed.

Jason McFarland, IADC VP of corporate development and chief of staff, opened the conference on 16 May in Houston. He noted IADC’s efforts to enhance communication with members “and demonstrate our relevance to every individual on every rig.”

With significant offshore discoveries and robust growth of shale development, as well as projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline, the US has an opportunity to transform from a nation that imports energy into one that’s independent from the world’s oil market, he continued. “Reaching that potential means that the US and state governments will need to work together with the energy industry to unlock resources to meet future demand… We simply cannot tolerate politics as usual here.” As a call to action, he said that industry must be engaged in active dialogue with stakeholders around the world. “If you are not involved in this debate, get involved… If you don’t, we could be sidelined by those in government who would just as soon see us go out of business. As drillers, it’s time for us to get to work telling our story.”

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OTC event raises industry awareness for high school students

Posted on 08 May 2012

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Approximately 200 high school math and science students from across Texas arrived at the 2012 OTC on 3 May to participate in Energy Education Institute: High School STEM. The BP-sponsored event began with hands-on activities provided by the US National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, giving students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to science- and math-based lessons.

Students were then led by BP representatives to explore the OTC exhibit floor. Exhibitors answered technical questions asked by students while providing valuable insight into careers in the energy industry.

To conclude the event, energy professionals sat down with the students for lunch to discuss the importance of energy and the career opportunities available. Students also received take-home educational and career handouts, as well as items provided by OTC sponsoring societies.

DC editorial coordinator Katherine Scott provides video coverage of the event’s full-day program.

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Industry safety statistics improve in 2011, IADC statistics show

Posted on 08 May 2012

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The drilling industry is actively working to enhance its safety performance and has strong results to show for it, Joe Hurt, IADC regional VP North America and lead staff land HSE issues, said during an exclusive video interview with DC publisher/editor Mike Killalea at the 2012 IADC Drilling HSE Asia Pacific Conference on 25 April in Singapore. In fact, offshore drilling contractors participating in the IADC Incident Statistics Program reported no fatalities in 2011. Mr Hurt also urged contractors to continue to share safety lessons learned through the IADC Safety Alerts program. More information can be found here.

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Deepwater demands require upgrade in surface, downhole technologies alongside industry collaboration

By Joanne Liou, editorial coordinator

Deepwater drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is pushing limits with depths around 34,000 ft, more than 25,000 psi bottomhole pressure (BHP) and 250°F bottomhole temperature (BHT), and the numbers will only get higher with the next generation of deepwater rigs and equipment. Tomorrow’s rig will boast the capacity to reach 35,000- to 40,000-ft measured depth with more than 30,000-psi BHP and greater than 300°F BHT, Rohit Mathur, account manager of Baker Hughes, explained at the IADC International Deepwater Drilling Conference and Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, on 17 April.

The increasing demands of deepwater drilling require upgrades in not only the rigs and equipment but also in communication and collaboration, Baker Hughes’ Rohit Mathur said at the IADC International Deepwater Drilling Conference and Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro on 17 April.

Presenting a service company’s approach, Mr Mathur explained the current challenges in the GOM, from hurricanes to high pressures, that are shaping expectations of the type of rigs that will be necessary and the equipment specifications that will be needed in light of formation issues and the wellbore itself. “The next-generation (derrick) will need to be rated to 2.5 to 3 million lbs, 2 million-lb traveling capacity, 2 million-lb active heave compensation, 30,000 ft or more of tubing racked back on rig floor itself and have the capability to drill at least to 40,000 ft drilling capacity on depth,” he said.

In the next five years, Mr Mathur expects deepwater rigs to have 12,000-ft storage of riser onboard and in the next 10 years, 15,000 ft. Cementing units will need 3,000 hp or more and be capable of high-pressure fracturing operations.

He also believes that wired drill pipe will become more prevalent in deepwater operations despite the higher costs. “There is a demand for higher data density, more real-time data in productive zones,” he said, noting that the limits of mud-pulse telemetry may be exceeded as we push wells depths to the 30,000- to 35,000-ft mark.

The additional uncertainties associated with deeper, sub-salt formations also create a need for better integration of wellbore programs utilizing real-time LWD, real-time drilling dynamics, seismic modeling and a 3D well plan model. “One picture gives a better, clearer understanding of what zones we’re trying to hit, how we’re hitting them, how we can exit out of that and basically improve the whole field development provided the better understanding,” Mr Mathur said.

Upgraded technologies also implicate a need for better communication and collaboration. “The communications workflow needs to be smoothened out,” he continued. “Everyone needs to know who to call, which would basically mean people at the rig site, at the office, team leaders talking to each other and keeping in the loop. We talk about technology, but we also need the piece of communication to do the work.”

Given the vast task ahead in deepwater, Mr Mathur believes that the industry is lacking a coordinated effort but notes that “there is definitely growing awareness among the industry.” Where there is an awareness of what needs to be done, individual companies are honed into their own projects and programs. “Everybody’s doing their own training program, but there’s not coordinated effort,” he said. “That’s what I’m calling for. There is a need to bring this big picture where everybody can talk the same lingo, the same language on what process, policies need to happen at the rig site, to prevent a disastrous situation from occurring.”

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US Steel Tubular Products to open Innovation & Technology Center for industry customers

By Joanne Liou, editorial coordinator

U.S. Steel Tubular Products (USS) will open the Innovation & Technology Center at its Houston offices on 28 March. The 10,000-sq-ft facility will serve as a training and education facility for customers, stakeholders and the community; it will be open to host events, such as lunch-and-learn sessions, industry association meetings and employee training. The center features six areas of interest devoted to research and development innovations; services and connections; manufacturing; inspection and testing; raw materials; and an overview area showcasing the company’s history.

The six areas reflect the company’s integrated supply chain and vision. “We started this vision of customer-driven tubular focus within our tubular segment,” Douglas R. Matthews, senior vice president – tubular operations of USS, said at a media event last week. “We need to be a stronger supporter – supporting technology developments that help our customers do their job easier, faster, better, cheaper.” The display of artificial iron ore, coke and limestone show the process of selecting and mining the materials. In the manufacturing exhibit, visitors can learn about the process and how materials are refined.

USS’ technologies and services are featured in the products, services and connections area of the center. Some of the company’s latest advances, such as the USS Buttress Thread, are showcased in the R&D innovations area. The interactive inspection and testing exhibit allows guests to test the performance capacity of various products through a touch-screen virtual testing system. Throughout the center, videos, posters and simulations give visitors an in-depth look and understanding of different technologies and process involved within the steel and tube-making process.

“We’re excited about this step in the evolutionary process of being tubular focus and customer driven,” Mr Matthews said. “We’re making sure our customers are at the forefront and identifying what their needs are and being responsive and proactive to supporting those needs, and we feel that this grand opening of our innovation and technology center is a step in that direction.”

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Houston college, university programs give students an edge into industry

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In the mecca of the oil and gas industry, Houston-area college and university programs are giving students a leg up into the industry, from field services to petroleum engineering. As the industry continues to expand, these institutions recognize the demand and opportunity to provide an educational background that leads to a career in the realm of oil and gas.

Companies have actively recruited graduates of Lone Star College’s drilling program, which began in January 2011. In one semester (16 weeks), students, who include veterans and professionals of other industries, can graduate with a marketable skills award certificate, which makes them a top candidate to local service companies. For more information on Lone Star College’s program, click here.

One of only a few programs in the US, the undergraduate petroleum engineering program at the University of Houston has received support from industry and has worked with companies to provide students with internships through their college career. The program, which began in fall 2009, was developed in response to the industry’s need for more engineers. For more information on the University of Houston’s program, click here.

In these videos, DC editorial coordinators Joanne Liou and Katherine Scott provide an overview of these programs being offered at Lone Star College and the University of Houston.

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