Shell to use Enhanced Drilling EC-Drill® at the Ormen Lange field

A/S NORSKE SHELL has signed an amendment to their existing contract with the Norwegian oilfield services company Enhanced Drilling, to cover the use of EC-Drill® - the Controlled Mud Level (CML) system. The operation will use a combined RMR® (Riserless Mud Recovery) and CML system on the Ormen Lange Field, starting 1st quarter of 2022. Shell will use Transocean Barents for this well.

‘Combined services’

The A/S Norske Shell’s contract – with a duration until 2023 and with two one-year options - already covers the use of Enhanced Drilling’s RMR® and CTS system.

Enhanced Drilling has been working with Shell for several years, most recently on the successful completion of RMR® operations for Sabah Shell’s Malikai Phase 2 Project and the ongoing CML project on the Deepwater Pontus in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bernt Eikemo, VP Sales & Marketing Enhanced Drilling said: ‘Shell is becoming one of Enhanced Drillings most valuable Client. We are looking forward to further develop our technologies in close cooperation with them.

‘EC-Drill® has proven itself to be the simplest, most cost-effective and easy-to-install Managed Pressure Drilling solution – contributing to reduced rig time, uninterrupted deep-water drilling for longer periods, as well as drilling within a narrow pressure window.’

Eikemo adds: ‘by combining the two systems the riserless section can be drilled with engineered mud and full volume control, and at the same time get all the benefits from the Controlled Mud Level system for the rest of the well. All this with a minimum footprint on the rig and very limited rig integration.’

Enhanced safety and drilling performance

EC-Drill® (pump module pictured) solves several common challenges, such as drilling through a narrow pore pressure/fracture gradient window or overcoming issues with depletion. It uses an MPD technique known as Controlled Mud Level (CML) which enables management of wellbore pressure by controlling the mud level in the riser.

EC-Drill® also has a relatively small footprint that enables swift rig integration. This, and the fact it can be used in harsh weather conditions as it requires no rotating control device or trapped pressure, gives it a real edge over other MPD systems.

RMR® - safer, faster, more environmentally friendly drilling

As mentioned, the A/S Norske Shell contract already covers technologies and services that can be utilized for riserless drilling.

The RMR® Riserless Mud Recovery system, is a safety enhancing, innovative means of returning mud and cuttings to the rig before the drilling riser is run, without any discharge to the seabed. The MPC system allows for better control during tophole cementing operations.

Technologies and services

Enhanced Drilling aim to help oil companies around the world solve challenges on all types of subsea wells, from top-hole drilling all the way down to the reservoir.

Enhanced Drilling provides technologies and services including RMR®, EC-Drill® Managed Pressure Drilling system, Cuttings Transport System (CTS) (which is used to take cuttings away from the wellhead area), MPC Managed Pressure Cementing (MPC), a complementary technology to RMR®, and the newly developed Enhanced Kick Detection system (EKD).