Successful completion of RMR® operations for Sabah Shell’s Malikai Phase 2 Project

ENHANCED DRILLING has successfully completed a top-hole batch RMR® drilling campaign for five wells for Sabah Shell Petroleum Company’s Malikai Phase 2 Project.

RMR®-  top-hole safety with less environmental impact

RMR® (Riserless Mud Recovery) is a dual gradient top-hole drilling technology that allows drilling of the riserless section with full volume control and returns of the drilling fluid back to the rig. For the Malikai Phase 2 Project it was used to reduce the amount of casing strings and to enable volume control and good hole cleaning in the 17 ½” section. The system has been successfully used on more 500 wells since it was first deployed operationally in 2003.
Enhanced Drilling’s RMR® system was successfully used on the Shell’s Malikai TLP to drill five top holes in batch in just under 500 meters of water.

Close monitoring and control

By deploying the RMR® system, it allowed the company to closely monitor the wells to detect any losses and gains as well as determine when, and if, the cement was returned to mud line. That resulted in reducing the amount of excess cement and improved ability to document a good cement job.

Pandemic challenges create remote-control opportunities

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the various travel restrictions this caused, the project faced many challenges. Nevertheless, the were many positives that came out of it and one of those was Enhanced Drilling’s testing of the remote-control technology kit. This is an exciting development and the system was run remotely from Norway for one whole shift. From the remote-control room in Norway, the Enhanced Drilling Operators were able to communicate with the driller in real time and operate all aspects of the RMR® system. In the future this could mean reduced offshore crew and eventually full remote capabilities.

Technologies and services

In addition to RMR®, Enhanced Drilling also provides technologies and services including EC-Drill® Managed Pressure Drilling system, Cuttings Transport System (CTS) (which is used to take cuttings away from the wellhead area) and Managed Pressure Cementing (MPC), a complementary technology to RMR®.
Enhanced Drilling, which is headquartered in Straume just outside of Bergen, Norway, has facilities in the USA and Australia.