Dual drilling operation speeds Fenja development offshore mid-Norway

Offshore staff

LONDON – Neptune Energy has performed what it claims is the world’s first dual drilling operation from an integrated subsea template structure at the Fenja field in the Norwegian Sea.

Seadrill’s semisubmersible West Phoenix managed the program as part of the current development drilling campaign on Fenja. Neptune’s goal was to maximize the rig’s full capabilities by drilling two wellbores at the same time.

Although dual drilling is not new, this first application from an integrated subsea template structure accelerated drilling operations, the company said, lowering costs and operational emissions.

Thor Andre Løvoll, Neptune’s director of Drilling and Wells in Norway, said: “Several drilling rigs have two drilling facilities where these traditionally support one another.

“However, in the instance of our operations we decided to use these facilities independently to concurrently drill two wellbores.

“The experience of dual drilling on Fenja has been positive and could see this method adopted as a more standard practice in the future. The current challenges in the market encourage us to re-think the way we do things safely, efficiently, and with lower carbon emissions.”

Previously the company had tried dual drilling on an exploration well elsewhere on the Norwegian continental shelf, and decided to apply that experience toward Fenja, its first operated development on the shelf.

The field, which holds an estimated 97 MMboe, is 120 km (74.6 mi) northwest of Kristiansund in a water depth of 320 m (1,050 ft), and is being developed as a tieback to Equinor’s Njord-A platform.

Its 36-km (22-mi) electrically trace-heated pipe-in-pipe subsea development will be the world’s longest, Neptune claims. At peak, Fenja should produce around 40,000 boe/d.

05/13/2020