Archives

Home   >   Archives   

Transocean highlights new rig technology at Houston’s 50th OTC

Rig Lynx
  • By Rig Lynx
  • May 08, 2019
  • Category : Archives
  • Views : 842

Offshore drilling rig technologies are continuing to develop and evolve in response to increased industry demand for safer and more efficient systems, said Transocean CEO and President Jeremy Thigpen at the Offshore Technology Conference on Tuesday.

While the market downturn of the past five years led many companies to sacrifice their R&D budgets, Thigpen explained that this was the wrong approach. “It’s important to keep offshore innovation going,” Thigpen said. “We need to transform the offshore industry so that it can compete effectively with shale, improve drilling efficiency, and accelerate first oil.”

Thigpen’s presentation, entitled “Rig technologies of the future,” described eight drilling technologies that Transocean has or expects to deploy on its rigs in the foreseeable future.  

The time is now to support these technologies, Thigpen said. “The offshore environment is favorable. Breakevens have been reduced from $65/bbl in 2016 to $40/bbl in 2019, and even lower in some cases.” And the number of offshore FIDs has tripled from 2016 to 2019, he noted.

Still, the economic environment has changed, he allowed. “How do we make the industry profitable at $50/bbl?” New drilling rig technologies, he suggested, would play a large part in that.

Thigpen selected just a few of the upcoming technologies for his presentation.

They included:

  • Well control package – this involves an enhanced kick detection device that is being developed by Enhanced Drilling Co. of Norway. “This is the key,” Thigpen said. He also noted that this system is “less invasive” than a managed pressure drilling system, but added that it did not take the place of an MPD system, which could also be added on the rig.
  • aShear – this is a new blowout technology being developed by Kinetic Pressure Control, which is producing a technology called “aShear” – “which can shear anything,” Thigpen noted. This new shear ram, he added, “is a blowout stopper,” and can be retrofitted to any depth.
  • Automated drilling control – This involves use of a wired drill pipe developed by IntelliServ, a joint NOV/Schlumberger venture, which provides real-time downhole data that can be used to make adjustments during drilling. The technology has been deployed by Equinor off Norway for the past year on six Transocean rigs. Thigpen noted that Equinor has been “very pleased with the results.” He added that Transocean was sharing the costs of this new technology with Equinor.
  • Human machine engineering – this involves sensor technologies and cameras which are placed on worker vests, as a safeguard against injury during drilling operations. The technology includes a warning system which alerts workers to proximity to dangerous equipment; and even shuts down the equipment, as an additional safeguard, if the worker gets to close to it.
  • Hybrid power packages – this technology enables the drilling rig operator to manage the rig’s power more efficiently, reduce fuel consumption, and produce a lower carbon footprint. Thigpen noted that this technology has been deployed on the semisubmersible rig Transocean Spitsbergen.
  • 20k drillship package – This technology, which has been in development by the industry for the past 15 years, will soon be ready to deploy. It will have a 20,000 psi well control system, a three-million-pound net hookload, and a 10,000 psi mud system. Thigpen noted that Transocean has been working with Chevron on this front. In December, it was announced that Chevron would deploy a newbuild Transocean drillship equipped with these capabilities in the Gulf of Mexico, in the second half of 2021.
  • Remote monitoring and prognosticating – these technologies remove people from the rig, thereby improving safety and lowering costs; they will also include remote dynamic positioning capabilities.
  • Data and health prognosticating – this technology will enable drilling rig operators to monitor and analyze critical systems so that they can plan maintenance activities, and thereby prevent or reduce downtime.

“These are just a few of the technologies we are working on,” Thigpen said.  

Photo: Transocean

Check out our other current stories!

Join the largest oil and gas community on iOS and Android!

Download the app here!

Rig Lynx was launched December 2017, our oil and gas news was viewed over 373,000 times in 2018 and our social networking application generated over 268,000 clicks in 2018. Our current foothold in the oil and gas industry has rivaled the largest in the industry and we are just getting started. For a complimentary copy of our 2018 Reach Report please send us an email at info@riglynx.com and we will be happy to show you our progress!

Comments (0)

Leave Comment


Check out our other stories

Rig Lynx
Mar 09, 2023

  Valaris Limited announced new contracts awarded subsequent to issuing the Company’s most recent fleet status report on February 21, 2023.   Three-year contract with Petrobras for drillship VALARIS DS-8. The rig will be reactivated for this contract. The total contract value is approximately $500 million, including a $30 million mobilization fee. 100-day contract with a TotalEnergies affiliate for drillship VALARIS DS-12. The contract is expected to commence in second quarter 2023. 70-day contract with Beach Energy offshore New Zealand for heavy duty modern jackup VALARIS 107. The contract is expected to commence in third quarter 2023. The total contract value is approximately $26 million. President and Chief Executive Officer Anton Dibowitz said, “We are particularly pleased to have secured the award for preservation stacked drillship VALARIS DS-8, for a contract that is expected to generate a meaningful return over the firm contract term, and we remain focused on exercising our operational leverage in a disciplined manner. This most recent award represents the sixth contract awarded to one of our high-quality stacked floaters since mid-2021, and speaks volumes about our demonstrated track record of project execution when reactivating rigs.”   Dibowitz added, “Following the reactivation of VALARIS DS-17 and DS-8, we will have ten floaters working across the golden triangle, including four drillships in Brazil, a market where we expect to see continued growth over the next several years.”   Updated Guidance   As a result of the contract awarded to VALARIS DS-8, which will require the rig to be reactivated from preservation stack, we are updating our first quarter 2023 and full-year 2023 guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call on February 21, 2023.   First Quarter 2023   Contract drilling expense is expected to increase by approximately $5 million to $385 million to $395 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to decrease by approximately $5 million to negative $5 million to breakeven. Adjusted EBITDAR, which adds back one-time reactivation expense, is expected to be $25 million to $30 million, unchanged from the guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call. Full-Year 2023   Revenues are anticipated to be $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion, unchanged from the guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call. Contract drilling expense is expected to increase by approximately $60 million to $1.49 billion to $1.59 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to decrease by approximately $60 million to $180 million to $220 million. Adjusted EBITDAR, which adds back one-time reactivation expense, is expected to be $280 million to $320 million, unchanged from the guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call. Capital expenditures are expected to increase by $60 million to $320 million to $360 million. Source: Valaris Join our mailing list here We are #1 on Google and Bing for the "Largest Mobile Energy Network" Come join our community! Download the Rig Lynx app here  

Rig Lynx
Mar 09, 2023

  Seadrill Limited announced that the West Neptune has executed approximately six months of term extensions with LLOG Exploration Offshore, L.L.C in the US Gulf of Mexico.   The extensions will commence in direct continuation of the existing term, and will keep the rig busy until Q3 2024, furthering Seadrill and LLOG’s long-term association. Total contract value for the extension is approximately $79 million. Source: Seadrill   Join our mailing list here We are #1 on Google and Bing for the "Largest Mobile Energy Network" Come join our community! Download the Rig Lynx app here  

Rig Lynx
Mar 09, 2023

  Semisub rig owner Dolphin Drilling has inked a new contract with Peak Petroleum in Nigeria for its 1974-built Blackford Dolphin.   The firm contract, which follows the letter of award in January, gives the Euronext Growth-listed owner of three rigs the potential to extend the unit’s backlog by a minimum of 120 days and up to 485 days. The deal adds to and will be a direct continuation of the previously announced 12-month contract with General Hydrocarbon Limited (GHL).   Øystein Stray Spetalen-backed company said the effective dayrate associated with the minimum firm period of the contract is $325,000, including the mobilisation fee.   “The final award of the contract for Blackford Dolphin shows the opportunities in Nigeria at a strong dayrate, in addition to building on the backlog for the rig. It also underlines the attractiveness of our assets, and we look forward to returning to revenue-generating operations in 2023,” noted Bjørnar Iversen, CEO of Dolphin Drilling.   Source: Dolphin   Join our mailing list here We are #1 on Google and Bing for the "Largest Mobile Energy Network" Come join our community! Download the Rig Lynx app here