Ocyan offers the oil and gas sector a new paradigm for drilling in water depths below 500 meters using a drillship in dynamic positioning, without the use of anchoring. The novelty was achieved for the first-time last month with the Norbe VIII rig, in the Albacora field, in the Campos Basin pre-salt, at a water depth of 450 meters and a total depth of 5000 meters. Heitor Gioppo, Managing Director of Ocyan's Drilling Unit, is celebrating: “We concluded the operation at the beginning of May with Norbe VIII, after the engineering study that allowed the action at an affordable cost. The demand was presented by the customer in January; we evaluated the use of a drill rig in dynamic positioning for this project for one month and, in February, we were able to start the operation with the drilling of the well. This model opens a new market for Ocyan probes”.
Ocyan drillships have the capacity to operate in water depths of up to 3,000 meters, meeting the demand of the E&P sector in ultra-deep waters. The number of wells with smaller water depths and total depths equivalent to the pre-salt wells in the Santos Basin has grown. This trend has created the new challenge of operating large drilling units, which work under the dynamic positioning system, in projects that require greater control of the angle between the position of the rig and the equipment connected to the wellhead: “ This differential achieved will allow us to offer our rigs for future exploration contracts in fields with reduced water depth, such as the mature fields in the Campos Basin, ” explains the executive.
For the Norbe VIII rig manager, Rafael Fontana, the solution will allow Ocyan to participate in bids where previously there was no technical possibility. “With our engineering work, we are making it possible to drill in ever smaller water depths, without the need for major investments in anchoring systems and reducing the environmental impact of this type of operation. This makes our asset competitive, as we have proven in practice to have the versatility to operate from shallow water locations to the ultra-deepwater fields of the Santos Basin pre-salt”.
Source: PetroNoticias
